PAUL LÁSZLÓ (1900-1993) Austria / USA
MARIA ROTT (enamel) Vienna, Austria
Enameled sterling cigarette case c.1925
Hand painted foil backed and colorful fired enamel scene with a figure and a flowering plant all within a red enamel border on sterling
Marks: Paul Laszlo (on inside edge, rubbed), RS in a cartouche (Vienna maker’s mark), STERLING
H: 4″ x W: 3″ x D: 3/8″
Matching enamel dresser set by Paul Laszlo illustrated: “Kunsthandwerk” Band 62, Heft 5, February 1930
Born in Budapest, the architect Paul Laszlo studied in Vienna, Paris and Berlin before setting up an office in Vienna. By 1927, Laszlo had moved to Stuttgart where he quickly made a name for himself across Europe. In 1936, he relocated to Beverly Hills, California, which had become a haven for many artists and designers seeking artistic freedom. There he quietly found work designing modern homes and interiors, often for Hollywood celebrities. Laszlo created textiles, lamps, as well as custom furniture for his modernist homes and corporate interiors. His comfortable, yet elegant designs pay tribute to the modern luxury and easy livability of the early to mid 20th Century interiors of Vienna.
This enamel on sterling case really is one of the very best fired enamel examples of its type. It has a wonderful range of beautifully toned and colored enamel with foil backing in some areas which also gives it extra luminosity and metallic glow. It is in perfect condition and the detail and masterful artistic quality of the painting is also extremely fine and exquisitely rendered.
It has all the style and characteristics of the accomplished Neue Shachlichkeit (or New Realism / Objectivity) painting style Laszlo would have been familiar with and exposed to either in Berlin or Stuttgart as well as the New Realism style in Vogue in Vienna, where Laszlo also worked in the 1920’s. Considering the difficulty in controlling fired enamel, this exceptional Laszlo enameled case is a bargain by comparison of the price per square inch of a comparable painting on canvas such as a Christian Schad or Otto Dix! In fact, paintings are vastly more simple to execute and immediately rendered by comparison to a fired enamel “painting” on sterling like this exceptional case which would require a very lengthy and tedious process to accomplish a work of this caliber.
Paul Laszlo left Germany for America in 1936 and established a successful design firm in Beverly Hills, became an American citizen and lived happily in Southern California for the rest of his life.
BISMARCK FAMILY CROWN
HOUSE OF KOCH Germany
Chignon crown c. 1900
Moonstones and diamonds set in an elaborate platinum mount, original leather box
The renowned “House of Koch” made this remarkable bejeweled chignon for the Bismarck family of Lauenburg, Germany. It is an early example of exquisite work in platinum and is set with cabochon moonstones and rose cut diamonds. The jewelry firm, known as the “House of Koch” was founded by Robert and Louis Koch in 1879 in Frankfurt, Germany with a branch in Baden-Baden. By 1883, the jewelers had earned the coveted title of Jeweler of the Court of Frankfurt and crafted jewels for many European Royal families. In fact, their jewels were famous across Europe, and their fashionable styles were worn in the courts of several European royals including the King of Italy and the Czar of Russia. By the time Robert Bosch had assumed control of the firm in 1938, the Koch family was forced to “Aryanize” their jewelry house. It was common during the late nineteenth Century for prestigious families to retool old antique heirloom pieces to bring them up to contemporary fashion standards and since this chignon has characteristics of both the 18th and the 19th Century jewelry, it was likely made from older pieces owned by the Bismarck family. The company closed doors in 1987 and jewels from the great time of the House of Koch are very much sought after in today's antique jewelry market.
Vesta dimensions: H: 2 inches x W: 1 and ¾ inches x Depth: 5/8 inches
Chain length: 60 inches
Weight: 3.27 Troy ounces / 101.5 grams / 65.3 pennyweights
TAPIO WIRKKALA (1915-1985) Finland
NILS WESTERBACK Finland
Pendant Necklace 1970
Lap-gold (18K gold or higher) pendant head with a rigid necklace
Makers: Tapio Wirkkala and Nils Westerback
Marks: 750, three crowns symbols
Model illustrated in: The Art of Jewelry, Graham Hughes (New York: The Viking Press, Inc., 1972), p. 135; Scandinavian Design, Charlotte and Peter Fiell (Köln: TASCHEN, 2002) p. 675; Marianne Aav, Rosa Barovier Mentasti and Gordon Bowyer, et al., Tapio Wirkkala – eye, hand and thought, exh. cat., Museum of Art and Design, Helsinki, 2000, p. 194, fig. 342 and p. 370
Length: 7 ½ inches x Width: 1½ inches
Weight: 5.55 Troy ounces / 172.7 grams / 111 pennyweights
*** The lion motif is modeled after the famous recumbent lions by Antonio Canova (Italy, 1757-1822), made for the monumental tomb of Clement XIII at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome
Cartier Art Deco brooch, carved rock crystal with a fancy platinum mount set with two European and cushion cut diamonds (approx. 3 carats TW) further set with two European and cushion cut diamonds (approx. 1 carat TW) with diamond pave work filling out the surrounding floral motif, original leather box, signed and numbered, c. 1925
For a related oval gold and cameo medallion box in the Russian National Museum presented in the original Iosif Marschak Kiev box see: Illustration #560 “Faberge / Cartier” by Geza von Habsburg (2003)
G.T. Marsh was established in 1876 in San Francisco, CA as one of the first purveyors of Japanese art and antiques. In the early 30’s Marsh, with the help of his Italian bench jeweler settled on a unique style that will always be indicative of the firm. Instead of using gold or platinum, the jeweler, who was interested in gun-smithing, created a line of jewels using sandblasted steel finished with gun bluing. This resulted in a rich dark mat black finish. Chased or milegrained white gold or platinum offset pearls, jade or diamonds set against the black ground of the steel. Movement also played a part in the design. Hinged pearls or gemstones added yet another distinct element to the work or exceptionally strong contrasting graphics. The use of diamonds on a grander scale with the dramatic outline of a classic paisley form, places this brooch mid-century and at a time when Marsh’s Jewelry boutique was particularly flourishing in the Bay area.
Dimensions: Length: 7 and 5/8 inches x Width: 1 inch
Weight: 3.20 Troy ounces / 99.4 grams / 63.9 pennyweights
Hermes, Paris / Georges L’Enfant textured loop link bracelet, 18K gold, signed: Hermes (block engraved signature), no. 66897, GL in a diamond mark for Georges Lenfant, French Eagle’s head mark for 18k gold, c. 1950’s
Weight of one bracelet: 2.97 Troy ounces / 92.5 grams / 59.4 pennyweights
Hermes, Paris / Georges L’Enfant textured loop link bracelet, 18K gold, signed: Hermes (block engraved signature), no. 68083, GL in a diamond mark for Georges Lenfant, French Eagle’s head mark for 18k gold, c. 1950’s
Weight of the second bracelet: 2.90 Troy ounces / 90.1 grams / 58 pennyweights
Necklace total weight: 5.87 Troy ounces / 182.5 grams / 117.4 pennyweights
A goldsmith and jeweler, Louis Wiese (Berlin 1818 – Paris 1890) began his career in Berlin where he served his apprenticeship before moving to Paris to work for J.V. Morel and then more significantly with F.D. Froment-Meurice, with whom he established a close bond. Weise opened his first atelier rue Jean-Pain-Molet in 1844 and worked exclusively for Froment-Meurice, as ever a supporter of Wiese’s work, he pushed for Wiese to receive the collaborator’s medal at the Exposition of 1849. Jules Wiese eventually worked for many of the top manufacturing jewelers and went on to win a first-class medal at the 1855 Exposition and a medal of honor at the 1862 Exhibition in London. M. Magne was quoted as follows when discussing Jules Wiese in light of the 1855 Exposition, “fine goldsmith and jeweler with an already distinguished reputation which can only be enhanced by his display. The importance of his pieces and his brave experiments reveal, even in the most modest work, an awareness of art and beauty which deserves to be encouraged by the jury.” Louis, Jules’ son, took over the company in 1880, continuing the reputation for fine craftsmanship and artistry that his father had established.