Josef Hoffmann Hammered Silver Centerpiece and Pair of Vases

$95,000
Hoffmann encountered an abundance of classical forms during his studies in Rome in 1896, which influenced his designs. Hoffman’s vases and centerpiece merge elements of Orientalism with modernist design. The vases reference both the elegant form of a folding fan and the 19th-century invention of corrugated galvanized iron—a cheap, mass-produced material that was quickly adopted in impoverished rural regions of the British Empire. This tension between industrial construction materials and the refined tastes of Hoffman’s elite clientele underscores a complex interplay between utility and luxury, tradition and innovation.
Category: Decorative Arts New Acquisitions Sculpture & Metalwork Wiener Werkstatte
Product Details

Item #: YSI-22012
Artist: Josef Hoffmann for the Wiener Werkstätte
Country: Austria
Circa: 1918
Dimensions: Vases: 8.25" height, 3" width, 2.75" depth; Centerpiece 5.25" square.
Materials: Hand-hammered silver
Signed: Marked on Centerpiece underside: Josef Hoffmann Monogram, MADE IN AUSTRIA, 900, WW monogram, WIENER/WERK/STÄTTE stamp, Galerie Miethke logo, Goddess Diana Head in Hexagon (2A) Marked on Vase underside: Made in Austria Marked on Vase Side Top A: Goddess Diana Head in Hexagon (2A), 900 Marked on Vase Side Bottom A: WW monogram, Josef Hoffmann Monogram, 900 Marked on Vase Side Top B: Rose mark, MADE IN AUSTRIA, WW monogram, Josef Hoffmann Monogram, 900, triangle, WIENER/WERK/STÄTTE stamp Marked on Vase Side Bottom B: WW monogram, Josef Hoffmann Monogram, Galerie Miethke logo, Goddess Diana Head in Hexagon (2A)
Exhibition History: A photograph of this form (model S 3759 - S sh 8) is held in the collection of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts (MAK), Vienna.

Item #: YSI-22012
Artist: Josef Hoffmann for the Wiener Werkstätte
Country: Austria
Circa: 1918
Dimensions: Vases: 8.25" height, 3" width, 2.75" depth; Centerpiece 5.25" square.
Materials: Hand-hammered silver
Signed: Marked on Centerpiece underside: Josef Hoffmann Monogram, MADE IN AUSTRIA, 900, WW monogram, WIENER/WERK/STÄTTE stamp, Galerie Miethke logo, Goddess Diana Head in Hexagon (2A) Marked on Vase underside: Made in Austria Marked on Vase Side Top A: Goddess Diana Head in Hexagon (2A), 900 Marked on Vase Side Bottom A: WW monogram, Josef Hoffmann Monogram, 900 Marked on Vase Side Top B: Rose mark, MADE IN AUSTRIA, WW monogram, Josef Hoffmann Monogram, 900, triangle, WIENER/WERK/STÄTTE stamp Marked on Vase Side Bottom B: WW monogram, Josef Hoffmann Monogram, Galerie Miethke logo, Goddess Diana Head in Hexagon (2A)
Exhibition History: A photograph of this form (model S 3759 - S sh 8) is held in the collection of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts (MAK), Vienna.

Curator's Notes
Josef Hoffman’s oeuvre embodies the seismic aesthetic and philosophical shifts that defined avant-garde art and design at the turn of the 19th century. He was a founding member of the Vienna Secession, an organization of artists and designers who sought to breakaway from rigid historical precedents, and later, the Wiener Werkstätte, a workshop dedicated to the production of craftwork of everyday objects including ceramics, textiles, and furniture. Hoffman was integral to defining Western applied arts during this period. The Stoclet Palace (1905–11), Hoffman’s masterpiece, embodies the artistic tension of this era and reveals the architect’s prescience; the mansion’s decorative details recall the fluid stylization of Art Nouveau, while the stark exterior walls—sheets of white marble edged in gilded metal—anticipate the austere planes and strict geometry of the International Style.
Josef Hoffman’s oeuvre embodies the seismic aesthetic and philosophical shifts that defined avant-garde art and design at the turn of the 19th century. He was a founding member of the Vienna Secession, an organization of artists and designers who sought to breakaway from rigid historical precedents, and later, the Wiener Werkstätte, a workshop dedicated to the production of craftwork of everyday objects including ceramics, textiles, and furniture. Hoffman was integral to defining Western applied arts during this period. The Stoclet Palace (1905–11), Hoffman’s masterpiece, embodies the artistic tension of this era and reveals the architect’s prescience; the mansion’s decorative details recall the fluid stylization of Art Nouveau, while the stark exterior walls—sheets of white marble edged in gilded metal—anticipate the austere planes and strict geometry of the International Style.
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