Description:
An exceptionally rare Jugendstil vase manufactured by Johann Loetz Witwe for the prestigious Viennese firm E. Bakalowits Söhne, combining a form designed by Karl Kellermann in 1899 with the extraordinary Phänomen Genre 85/3833 decoration designed by Koloman Moser (1868–1918) in 1901.
Moser’s remarkable decoration consists of elongated vertical bands interspersed with stylized heart-shaped motifs, incorporated directly into the hot glass. Their rhythmic repetition transforms the organic heart motif into an increasingly abstract pattern – perfectly capturing Moser’s artistic transition from the floral language of the early Vienna Secession towards the geometric modernism that would later characterize the Wiener Werkstätte.
Of particular interest is the elaborate floral metal mount. Other documented examples are known with more architectural and geometric mounts, whereas the organic character of the present example relates closely to the earlier vocabulary of the Vienna Secession. Stylistically, this may indicate an early execution around 1901, although an exact date for the mount cannot presently be documented.
The importance of the model is further supported by exceptional historical documentation. A period photograph from Vienna, 1905, shows the same Kellermann form combined with Moser’s Phänomen Genre 85/3833 in a different mount. Another example with the same form and decoration is preserved in the Passau Glass Museum.
Bringing together Kellermann’s form, Moser’s revolutionary ornament, Bakalowits’s role as artistic intermediary and Loetz’s extraordinary glassmaking, this vase represents a rare and tangible document of one of the most innovative moments in Viennese decorative art around 1900.
For an extensive art-historical analysis, historical documentation and comparative examples, please see the complete research document (object description sheet) available as a PDF below.
Click here to open the object description sheet
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