Mirror Josef Hoffmann Max Welz ca. 1935
Rare Art Deco mirror, design Josef Hoffmann, executed by Max Welz Vienna, circa 1935, walnut wood and carved bone, original company label Max Welz
on reverse original company-adhesive label “MAX WELZ WIEN-VII” and original label handwritten mod. no. “H. 55”
Description
Josef Hoffmann designed this rare Art Deco mirror around 1935, in the years immediately following the liquidation of the Wiener Werkstatte in 1932.
Clear lines, a geometric design and an architectural structure characterize this object. Mirrored side elements placed on top can be interpreted as a quotation of a conventional frame and, slightly protruding, emphasize the spatial effect of the wall mirror. Finely fluted sidebars made of dark walnut wood also emphasize its architectural character.
Four medallions of carved ivory, some with floral motifs, stand in contrast to the simplicity of the mirror and are used sparingly as a decorative element. This design by Hoffmann was executed with carvings made of ivory as well as of finely carved walnut wood.
Max Welz frame manufactory’s collaboration with big names like Hoffmann and Peche dates back to the early 1920s. Executed in outstanding quality, also this model corresponds to the highest artistic ideas of Hoffmann.
Artist
Josef Hoffmann (Brtnice 1870 - 1956 Vienna), co-founder of the Viennese Secession and of the Wiener Werkstätte, was an extremely productive and versatile architect and designer. Throughout his career he experimented with various forms, techniques and materials. In his designs, he was striving for a strong reduction of the form to the essential and was a pioneer of geometric Jugendstil. This is how his characteristic geometric style was established. The scope of his designs ranges from buildings and entire interiors, following the concept of the “Gesamtkunstwerk” (total work of art), all the way to small details of everyday life. One of his most significant works is the Palais Stoclet in Brussels, a Gesamtkunstwerk which he executed for a wealthy entrepreneur between 1905 and 1911 in collaboration with, among others, Gustav Klimt and Koloman Moser.
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