BOŘEK ŠĺPEK  (1949-2016) Prague, Czech Republic

Goblet “BAGATTI VALSECCHI” c. 1994

Blown clear glass with blue bow details

Exhibited: The Twenty One (Millenium) Exhibition, Arzenal Gallery, Prague, 2000

For more information see: Sípek, Philippe Louguet, Dagmar Sedlická  (Paris: Éditions Dis Voir, 1999); Borek Sipek and Christian Tortu: Collection Twentyone 2001 (Prague: Arzenal Edition, 2001)

H: 12″ x Dia: 4 1/2″

Price: $1,150

The Czech architect, furniture designer, and glass artist Borek Sípek was born in Prague in 1949. From 1964 to 1968 Borek Sípek studied furniture design at the Prague School for the Applied Arts. In 1969 he began to study architecture at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg. In 1973 he studied philosophy at Stuttgart University. From 1977 until 1979 he was an academic assistant at the Hannover University Institute of Industrial Design. Borek Sípek took his degree in architecture at Delft Technical University. Then he taught design theory at Essen University until 1983. In 1983 Borek Sípek also opened an architecture and design practice in Amsterdam. He founded Alterego, a design business, with David Palterer. In the 1980s, Borek Sípek designed Postmodern furniture and glass objects, which brought him international renown. Borek Sípek’s designs are formally distinctive, both ingeniously conceived and sumptuous, and are often executed in unconventional materials and combinations of materials. Borek Sípek views design as an interpretation of culture. For this reason, he rejects the functional and rational approach to design and does not want striving for technical perfection to lead to disregard of individuality. In 1983 Borek Sípek designed “Bambi”, a fragile-looking tubular steel chair with brass fittings and a back covered in silk. In 1991 Borek Sípek designed the “PCSS” table with blue glass legs and metal fittings. Borek Sípek’s superlative glass objects are executed by glassblowers in Murano and Novy Bor. Borek Sipek is also known worldwide as an architect and has received prestigious commissions. Between 1993-2002 Borek Sípek worked on the Het Kruithuis Museum in ‘s Hertogenbosch (the Netherlands). In 1994 Borek Sípek designed the Kyoto Opera Houseentsteht das Opernhaus in Kyoto. In 1995 Borek Sípek designed a Paris boutique for Karl Lagerfeld. In 1990 Borek Sípek became a professor of architecture at the Academy for the Applied Arts in Prague, where he taught until 1998. Since 1999 he has taught at the Universität for angewandte Kunst in Vienna.

His works are included in major international museum and private collections throughout the US and Europe including Museum of Modern Art, Stedelijjk Museum, Denver Art Museum, The Corning Museum of Art, The Hauge Municipal Museum, Kunstmuseum in Düsseldorf and Design Museum in London.

GILBERT ROHDE   (1894-1944)   USA
HERMAN MILLER CLOCK CO.  Zeeland, Mich.

Showroom sample clock and thermometer/barometer  c. 1933

Block of seven stacked wood varieties with three brushed chrome bars, chromium-plated rings and original convex glass clock faces

For related Rohde clock designs: American Modern 1925-1940: Design for a New Age, J. Stewart Johnson (New York: Harry Abrams & Am. Federation of Arts, 2000) p. 142-43 The Machine Age in America: 1918-1941, Richard Guy Wilson, Dianne H. Pilgram and Dickran Tashjian, exhibit. Cat. (New York: The Brooklyn Museum and Harry N. Abrams, 1986), vintage Herman Miller catalog.

H: 5 ½” L: 10 ¼” x W: 2 ½”

ALBERT BARNEY (? -1955) American
JOHN C. MOORE  (1907-1947)  New York
TIFFANY & COMPANY  (1868-)  New York

“Century Modern” chocolate or demitasse pot   1936

Handwrought sterling silver, fiber handle and finial

Stamped: TIFFANY & Co. MAKERS, 22172 (pattern/date system number), 5244(order number), STERLING SILVER, 925-1000, m (John C. Moore, designer), 5 GILLS

For a related modernist service and information about  Century Modern silver exhibited at the 1939 New York World’s Fair see: Tiffany Silver, Charles H. Carpenter, Jr. (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1978) pp. 256, 259-261

For more information see: Tiffany Silver, Charles H. Carpenter, Jr. (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1978) pp. 256, 259-261; Modernism:  Modernist Design 1880-1940, The Norwest Collection, Norwest Corporation, Minneapolis, Alastair Duncan (Woodbridge, Suffolk, England:  The Antique Collector’s Club, 1998), p. 240.

H: 8″ x W: 5″ x D: 3 1/4″

CHINESE ART DECO

Covered box c. 1930

Cloisonne enamel in a fantasy of archaic Chinese motifs in red, royal blue, black  white and sand colored abstract designs on a bronze body with a turquoise enameled underside and interior.

H: 2 1/2″ x D: 6 1/4″ x W: 9″

CELLINI-CRAFT Evanston, Ill

Grand “Argental” center piece bowl c. 1934

Hand wrought and hand hammered aluminum in a curvacious ovoid form with applied curlique handles.

Marks: ARGENTAL, XXX, HANDWROUGHT

H: 3 1/4″ x D: 13 3/4″ x L: 21″

CELLINI CRAFT was founded by Walter Gerlach & Hans Gregg in 1914.
The company created jewelry and tableware and was noted for their use of aluminum alloy “Argental.” In 1957 Cellini Craft was purchased by Julius Randahl. In 1965 the patterns and rights to “Argental” were sold to Reed & Barton.

EMIL HOYE (1875-1958) Bergen, Norway

MARIUS HAMMER   (1847-1927) Norway

Four-quadrant sweets tray c. 1910

Handwrought silver with fluted border detail

Marks: MH (conjoined monogram of Marius Hammer), 800 (silver standard mark), 5294

For further information see: Silver of a New Era: International Highlights of Precious Metalwork from 1880 to 1940 (Rotterdam: Museum Boymans van-Beuningen, 1992), p. 218; Art Nouveau and Art Deco Silver Annelies Krekel-Aalberse (New York: Abrams, 1989) pp. 243, 255

H: 1 5/8” x 8 5/8” square

PEDRO DE LEMOS (1882-1945) Bay Area, California

Clydesdale horse sculpture c. 1930

Hand modeled orange glazed terra cotta.

Marks: De Lemos Palo Alto (sticker on the bottom), various pencil notations on the foot bottom

H: 9 1/8″ x D: 3 1/2″ x W: 9 1/2″

Pedro Joseph de Lemos (25 May 1882 Austin, Nevada – 5 December 1945) was an American painter, printmaker, architect, illustrator, writer, lecturer and museum director. He started his art career in the Bay Area. He studied under Arthur Frank Mathews at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art in 1900, later was a student of George Bridgman at the Art Students League in New York and of Arthur Wesley Dow at Columbia University Teachers College. The influence of traditional Japanese woodcuts is clearly seen in his work.

Pedro’s father Francisco, a cobbler, emigrated from the Azores in 1872, and settled in Oakland, California where Pedro was educated. Pedro and his brothers Frank and John all followed careers in art. Pedro was employed by Pacific Press Publishing Company between 1900 and 1906, afterwards starting the Lemos Illustrating Company with his brothers in 1907. Later this became known as the Lemos Brothers Art and Photography Studio, which offered art classes in copper, leather and landscaping as well as the traditional media of drypoint, etching and illustrating.

Lemos worked from a studio overlooking Lake Merritt and taught art at the University of California, Berkeley, working at the same time as illustrator and designer and giving classes in decorative design and etching at the San Francisco Institute of Art, where he had earlier studied when it was the Mark Hopkins Institute. He helped found the California Society of Etchers and an aqua print of his was acclaimed at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, for which he helped organise the California print exhibition. He filled the position of Professor of Design at Stanford University and became director of the Stanford University Museum of Art in 1919. Besides being the first president of the Carmel Art Association, he was an affiliate member of several art organisations such as the California Society of Etchers, the California Print Makers, the Palo Alto Art Association, the Chicago Society of Etchers and the Bohemian Club. In 1943 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London.

JEAN E. PUIFORCAT  (1897-1945)  France
ORFÈVRERIE PUIFORCAT  Paris, France

Sterling silver with sterling and bone gear-like finial detail

Marks:  JEAN E. PUIFORCAT, French Guarantee mark for 950/1000 pure silver, E.P. insignia (Emile Puiforcat)

For related works of Puiforcat see: Jean Puiforcat, Françoise de Bonneville (Paris:  Editions du Regard, 1986) p.171; Jean Puiforcat:  Orfèvre Sculpteur (Paris: Flammarion,1951).

H: 3 1/4″ x Dia: 3 1/2″

Jean E. Puiforcat is the most famous name of Art Deco silverwork. This is a gently tapered round footed and covered box of beautiful form and proportion with a contoured gear-like bone and silver finial. Overall it is a signature example of French Art Deco silver and dates from the late 1920’s and bears the early mark of Jean E. Puiforcat spelled out in addition to all of the appropriate French silver standard touchmarks. It is a really perfect example of French Art Deco silver by the French master of them all, Puiforcat!

LOUIS AUGUSTE DAGE (1885-1963) France
B. ALTMAN & CO. (Retailer)

French Art Deco pottery vase c. 1930

Earth color craqulure glaze with dark brown fissures with a heavy over drip glaze in blue and white variegated hues.
Marks: LD Dage (script signature on the side), Pour B. Altman & Co. Paris, New York, Made in France (on bottom)
H: 5 ½” x Dia: 7”

OTTO HEINTZ, New York

HEINTZ ART METAL SHOP   Buffalo, New York

Grand verdigris “Silver Crest” vase   c. 1925-30

Bronze with a rich green patina; sterling silver collar and foot

Made by the Heintz Art Metal Shop, Buffalo, NY

Marks: Silver Crest logo with STERLING DECORATED BRONZE, conjoined H A M S in diamond shape, 1080

For further information see: The Arts & Crafts Movement in New York State: 1890s-1920s. Coy L. Ludwig (Hamilton, NY: Gallery Assoc. of NY State, 1983) p. 90.

H: 14 3/4”

The Heinz shop used sterling silver applied as floral ornamentation to bronze. The objects were distinguished by a variety of patinas and machine-shaped bases-very different from the hammered look of most Arts and Crafts metal works. Despite the death of its founder Otto Heinz in 1918 at the age of 41, the company continued and produced a more modern line entitled Silver Crest.

Franz Xaver Bergman (1861–1936)  (attr.) Vienna, Austria.

Bull pen wipe c. 1900

Cold painted bronze, boar’s hair bristles, horn.

For information see: Art Bronzes, Mich. Forrest (Schiffer, 1988).

H:  5 1/4” x L:  11”

Franz Xaver Bergman (1861–1936) was the owner of a Viennese foundry who produced numerous patinated and cold-painted bronze Oriental, erotic and animal figures, the latter often humanized or whimsical, humorous objects d’art.

A well-known anamalier at the turn-of-the century, the sculptor Franz Bergman created a number of small bronzes in a variety of subject matter.  Other figurative works were informed by the Jugendstil/Art Nouveau style and the European taste for the exotic as is found in his figures of rug merchants and camels.  His animal sculptures, however, capture the Viennese tradition of naturalistic bronzes.  The quality of the bronze casting shows tremendous detail, which was carefully brought out through the applied patination process known as cold painting.

SIR WILLIAM REYNOLD STEPHENS (1862–1943) London, UK
BRITISH ARTS & CRAFTS

Photo frame 1886

Bronze / copper lost wax casting with an elaborate stage set with a seeded figure and two capitals with mythological telamons, easel back

Marks: 18 December 1886, W Reynold Stephens London (signature and markings in the cast, bottom left front)

H: 6 5/8″ x W: 11 1/2″

Sculptor of decorative works, portraits and monumental figures, goldsmith and painter. Born 8 August 1862 in Detroit, U.S.A., of British parents; his father’s name was Stephens. Educated in England and Germany, then studied at the R.A. Schools and won prizes for sculpture and painting 1887. Assumed the additional name of Reynolds 1890. Exhibited at the R.A. 1886–1942, solely as a sculptor after 1894. Influenced to some extent by Alfred Gilbert and Pre-Raphaelite medievalism. Made many memorials, including those to Sir William Q. Orchardson, R.A., in St Paul’s, and to Archbishop Lord Davidson in the courtyard of Lambeth Palace. In 1904 he designed the chancel screen, reredos and other decorations for the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Great Warley, Essex. F.R.B.S. 1904, P.R.B.S. 1921–33, awarded R.B.S. gold medal 1928; knighted 1931. Died at Tunbridge Wells 23 February 1943.

EDWARD WELBY PUGIN  (1834 – 1875) UK

“Granville” chair  c. 1870

Walnut, klismos-style A-frame back with exposed pegs, shaped seat and base with exposed mortise and tenon joinery.

Illustrated: Victorian and Edwardian Decor: From the Gothic Revival to Art Nouveau, Jeremy Cooper (New York: Abbeville Press, 1987) fig. 117; Nineteenth Century Design: from Pugin to Mackintosh, Charlotte Gere and Michael Whiteway (New York:  Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1993) p.143, pl. 173 (in oak); Catalogue Sommaire Illustré des Art Décoratifs, Musée d’Orsay (Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1988), p. 184; Truth, Beauty and Design. Victorian, Edwardian and later decorative art, exhibit. cat. (Fisher Fine Art Limited, London, 1986.) p. 32, No. 50

A “Granville” chair is in both the Permanent Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Musée D’Orsay, Paris.

H: 33″ x D: 18 1/2″ x W: 18″

Edward Welby Pugin, son of gothic-revivalist A.W.N. Pugin, was thrust into professional and family responsibilities upon his father’s death in 1852 when the young Pugin was only eighteen years of age.  His style closely resembled his father’s although his furniture for the Granville Hotel in Ramsgate (1873) had its own robust individuality. Like his father, he designed both church and domestic furnishings, mostly executed by Hardman & Co. of Birmingham, the firm established by his father’s collaborator John Hardman. During his lifetime E.W. Pugin was regarded as the leading Catholic church architect of the High Victorian period, in fact he left for New York in 1873 and set up an office on Fifth Avenue and received commissions for some 30 churches across the U.S., including Chicago and Washington, D.C.