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Object Timeline

-0001	We photographed this object. We photographed this object. We photographed this object.
1917	Work on this object began.
1962	We acquired this object.
2013	This was an Object of the Day.
2014	We exhibited this object.
2017	We photographed this object. We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

Fruit Bowl Bowl

This is a bowl. It was designed by Josef Hoffmann and manufactured by Wiener Werkstätte and produced by Wiener Werkstätte. It is dated 1917 and we acquired it in 1962. Its medium is silver. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.

Flute song in silver

This elegant piece of silver is both modern and ancient. Not only does it connect to designs by Hoffmann in other media, such the glass vase with fluted base he designed for Lobmeyr and a fluted sidewall paper created by his follower Dagobert Peche, but it also relates to the classic designs of ancient Greece and Rome. Look at the flutes! They mimic the flutes of marble columns from the Ionic and Corinthian orders used in Greek temples.

These orders were routinely presented in books, beginning in the Renaissance, whenever the fashion for antiquity or classical proportions resurfaced. Despite Hoffmann's interest in creating a design that was fresh, his work was based on his training in historical design, which he adapted and updated. Hoffmann also referenced designs from the neoclassical era of the late 18th century: English teapots of the 1780s had fluted sides. (Paul Revere created almost identical teapots in 1790s Boston, which reflects the widespread appeal of this decorative element.) Although Hoffmann was not looking to Paul Revere, he may have seen English fluted silver.

Despite the similarity of Revere’s and Hoffmann’s flutes, there are technical differences. Revere's flutings were formed in sheet silver, a more "modern" mechanical technique that was the latest contribution of the industrial revolution in 18th-century England. Sheets of silver were first rolled flat; the silver was then formed into a fluted cylinder shape and seamed to make a teapot body, with a separate piece soldered to the sides for the base. Hoffmann wanted to get away from mechanization, so his bowl employed an old-fashioned method of hand raising the silver, which entailed beating it out of a block of silver into the oval shape, with flutes created by pinching the silver at intervals.

This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled Flute song in silver.

This object was donated by Ely Jacques Kahn. It is credited Gift of Ely Jacques Kahn.

Textile, Notschrei (Cry for Help)
wool.
Museum purchase through General Acquisitions Endowment Fund.
1985-52-2

A Pair of Dishes Dishes
silver.
Gift of Mrs. Gerard P. Herrick.
1959-81-5-a,b

Wiener Werkstatte silver vase made in 1923. The upper two-thirds of the vase have a highly polished background and are embellished with applied and different-shaped leaves, flowers, and vines. The lip of the vase is flared and engraved with small short lines. The bottom third has been chased and fluted to serve as a stand for the upper part of the vase. It is far less polished than the top of the piece.

Vase Vase
silver.
Gift of Ely Jacques Kahn.
1962-227-2

Our curators have highlighted 6 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

Lotus Bowl Bowl
silver.
Museum purchase from the Members' Acquisitions Fund of Cooper-Hewitt,....
2008-3-1

Dining Chair, from the Purkersdorf Sanatorium Dining Chair

Dining Chair, from the Purkersdorf Sanatorium Dining Chair, 1904–1905
beechwood, leather, metal.
Museum purchase from Combined Funds and through gift of Crane and Co..
1968-6-1

The topmost part of this compote is wide and made of scalloped sterling. It allows for easy access to the contents. As we work our way down the compote there are two convex rings of silver that lead to a vertically carved, also convex, short length of ebony. The next lower part is a small silver design with feathers and points that looks something like a really small loving cup. Further down, there is a convex length of ivory, scored vertically like the ebony above, but longer. The ivory has yellowed in places and is above a silver element that has more feathery curves surrounding what almost looks like a squat pumpkin. This piece ends in silver components: more scalloping and scored balls with two little people or animals, one on either side of each ball. The compote sits on a wide, thin flat round of silver.

Compote From A Console Set, 1927
sterling silver, ivory, and ebony.
Lent by Yale University Art Gallery, Mabel Brady Garvan Collection, by....
65.2016.4

Its dimensions are

H x W x D: 21.7 × 39 × 34.4 cm (8 9/16 × 15 3/8 × 13 9/16 in.)

It has the following markings

On the lip of bowl: [1] Interlocking “JH”, impressed (designer’s mark) [2] Rose mark, impressed (manufacturer’s mark) [3] “WIENER WERKSTATTE”, impressed (manufacturer’s mark) [4] Interconnected “WW”, impressed (manufacturer’s mark) [5] Dianna Head with “2” and “A”, impressed (standard mark, Austria-Hungary, town mark, Vienna, 1872–1922). On the foot of the bowl: [1] Interconnected “WW”, impressed (manufacturer’s mark) [2] Dianna Head with “2” and “A”, impressed (standard mark, Austria-Hungary, town mark, Vienna, 1872–1922).

It is inscribed

Inscribed on the bowl: [1] “OP”, repoussé (monogram) [2] “MP”, repoussé (monogram) [3] “19” and “17”, repoussé (date)

Cite this object as

Fruit Bowl Bowl; Designed by Josef Hoffmann (Austrian, b. Moravia, 1870–1956); Produced by Wiener Werkstätte (Austria); Austria; silver; H x W x D: 21.7 × 39 × 34.4 cm (8 9/16 × 15 3/8 × 13 9/16 in.); Gift of Ely Jacques Kahn; 1962-227-1

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibitions The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s and Making Design.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2CwLx/
Accession Number 1962-227-1
Object ID 18444031