The poster, when divided in half horizontally is a mirror image pattern with the words 'Spitzen der Wiener Werkstatte' in the center. At the top and bottom are left and right boxes of repeating black diamonds in straight lines. Dividing these two boxes is an image of three blooms with stems and branching leaves in the foreground and two blooms at the top corners, with a cracked pattern in the background, reminenscent of stained glass. This image is mirrored in reverse at the bottom of the poster. Solid triangle borders cover the top and bottom of the poster and it is signed at the bottom, D. Peche.

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See more objects with the tag graphic design, lace, geometric, harlequin, poster, branching, Wiener Werkstätte.

Object Timeline

1909	Work on this object began.
1929	Work on this object ended.
2002	We acquired this object.
2011	We photographed this object.
2014	We exhibited this object.
2015	We photographed this object.
2017	We photographed this object. We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

Poster, Spitzen der Wiener Werkstätte (Wiener Werkstätte Lacework)

This is a Poster. It is dated ca. 1919 and we acquired it in 2002. Its medium is lithograph on off-white paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

Dagobert Peche was described by Josef Hoffmann as the “greatest decorative genius” that Austria had produced since the baroque period. When Peche joined the Wiener Werkstätte in 1915 and succeeded Hoffmann as director, his highly idiosyncratic, decorative style changed the prevailing aesthetic that had previously dominated Werkstätte production. Instead of the severe grids and simple geometric forms used by Hoffmann and Koloman Moser, Peche introduced stylized plant forms, animals, and garlands of fruit that optimistically celebrated the bounty of life. After his release from military service in World War I, Peche and his family moved to Zurich to establish a branch of the Wiener Werkstätte. Because Switzerland was not subject to wartime restrictions on metals, Peche was able to open a silver and metal workshop. Peche also initiated the production of lace, which was an ideal medium to reproduce his airy and fanciful drawings. Lacemaking also capitalized on the available female workforce during wartime.
In Zurich, between 1917 and 1919, Peche produced numerous designs for bobbin lace insets and borders, drawn thread work in tulle, and tulle embroidery that were produced in Bohemia or Vienna by women working at home. This lacework was sold at the Werkstätte’s Swiss branch and, beginning in 1918, at its fabric shop in Vienna at 32 Kärntnerstrasse. When Peche was called back to Vienna in 1919, he created a special salesroom on the third floor of the shop for lace, ribbons, and various articles made from Wiener Werkstätte fabrics.
Peche’s striking and relatively rare poster, Spitzen der Wiener Werkstätte (Wiener Werkstätte Lacework), which promotes the workshops’ lace production, is dated around the time of Peche’s return to Vienna. His use of small patterns of black and white mimics the openwork of lace, especially the fanciful tree or plant with its slender, sharply pointed leaves. Similar plant forms appear in Peche’s wallpaper design Der Spitz (1990-127-7) in the museum’s collection of wallcoverings in which various tree and plant motifs, created mainly for tulle work, are randomly strewn about to create a graphic pattern. The poster directly relates to other objects by Peche in the museum’s collection, including two examples of lace (1999-36-1,2) and a silver vase (1962-227-2).
November 26, 2002

It is credited Museum purchase through gift of George A. Hearn.

Vase Vase
cast and silver-plated metal.
Gift of George R. Kravis II.
2018-22-137

Silvered bronze chandelier from the Wiener Werkstatte. The finial that touches the ceiling is a multi-petaled leaf. A long thin silverplated pole leads down to the lightbulb section. The pole has a spiral vine with leaves that meander down the pole. All of the six globe-shaped bulbs are set into a many-leafed receptacle where the bulbs are screwed in. The leaves below the bulbs are slanted upward and look as though they were cut with a tin shears. Below the leaves, the stem loops and there are six-budded flowers, which haven’t opened yet. Below that are more leaves. There are spirals and loops above some of the bulbs.

Chandelier, Designed 1922, made 1923
silvered bronze.
Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Edward C. Moore Jr. Gift,....
66.2016.7

Object ID #69167761
hand-painted and glazed thrown earthenware.
Museum purchase from Charles E. Sampson Memorial Fund.
2015-10-1

Our curators have highlighted 10 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

Vase (Austria)
chased, raised, cast, and applied silver.
Gift of Ely Jacques Kahn.
1962-227-2

Drawing, Textile Design: Diomedes
brush and black, orange gouache on paper.
Museum purchase from Smithsonian Collections Acquisition and Decorative Arts....
1988-62-619

Drawing, Textile Design: Diomedes
brush and gouache on paper.
Museum purchase from Smithsonian Collections Acquisition and Decorative Arts....
1988-62-618

Its dimensions are

57.2 x 45.7 cm (22 1/2 x 18 in.) Mat: 71.1 × 55.9 cm (28 × 22 in.)

It is signed

Imprinted in black in lower margin, center: D. PECHE

Cite this object as

Poster, Spitzen der Wiener Werkstätte (Wiener Werkstätte Lacework); Austria; lithograph on off-white paper; 57.2 x 45.7 cm (22 1/2 x 18 in.) Mat: 71.1 × 55.9 cm (28 × 22 in.); Museum purchase through gift of George A. Hearn; 2002-19-1

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibitions Esperanza Spalding Selects and Making Design.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2DPUa/
Accession Number 2002-19-1
Object ID 18696773