VIENNA.- Every object “must bear a distinct mark of individuality, beauty and precise execution”, wrote Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the founder of the Arts and Crafts movement, to Josef Hoffmann, the founding member and main representative of the Wiener Werkstätte.

This certainly applies to the objects in Dorotheum’s Jugendstil sale in Vienna on 7 July 2021. The main highlight of the auction is a rare table or mantel clock by Josef Hoffmann, executed by the Wiener Werkstätte. Estimated at 100,000 to 150,000 euros, this clock was manufactured in 1903, the founding year of the Wiener Werkstätte, and played a pioneering role for later clock concepts developed by Mackintosh.

Klimt meets Hoffmann

The two Secessionists Gustav Klimt and Josef Hoffmann influenced each other. For example, the mosaic frieze in the Palais Stoclet in Brussels, designed by Hoffmann, was created by Gustav Klimt. The painter lived temporarily in a villa designed by Josef Hoffmann on Hohe Warte in Vienna. An armchair designed by the architect, which Gustav Klimt used as studio furniture, also dates from this period. The armchair was long considered lost and has now been estimated at 15,000 to 25,000 euros.

Demetre Chiparus’ bronze and ivory figurines from around 1925 embody the era of french Art Deco. They captivate the viewer with their high quality workmanship and the decorative design of their surfaces. The estimate for his “Ayouta” is 12,000 to 20,000 euros, “Egyptian Dancer” is expected to fetch 7,000 to 12,000 euros.

The more than 300 lots of the sale also include works by Gustav Gurschner, such as a five-arm bronze candelabrum, Vienna c. 1900 (€ 8,000 – 15,000), an “Ecstasy” ivory figure by Ferdinand Preiss, Germany c. 1913 (€ 9,000 – 15,000), large season putti “Spring”, “Autumn” and “Winter” by Michael Powolny 1915/16 (€ 6,000 – 10,000; € 8,000 – 12,000, € 10,000 – 15,000), glasses by Otto Prutscher and several ceramics by women of the Wiener Werkstätte, such as Vally Wieselthier.