MICHAEL POWOLNY (1871-1954) Austria
BERTOLD LÖFFLER (1874-1960) Austria
WIENER KERAMIK Vienna
Putto mit Hahn c. 1910
Glazed white earthenware handpainted with black enamel
Marks: MP (impressed artist’s monogram), WK (impressed company logo in a square), original Wiener Keramik paper label
Exhibited: Frühjahrsausstellung Österreichischer Kunstgewerbe in Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie (MAK museum), Vienna, 1912.
Model illustrated: Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, Vol. XXXI, October 1912 – March 1913, n.p.; Michael Powolny: Keramik und Glas aus Wien 1900 bis 1950, Elisabeth Frottier (Vienna: Böhlau Verlag, 1990) 1912 photograph with the cock sculpture displayed in vitrine from Frühjahrsausstellung Österreichischer Kunstgewerbe, illus. 4, p. 15 and illus. 27, p. 54, cat. no. WV92.
H: 9 1/8″
Price: $7,950
WALTER BOSSE (1904 – 1979) Austria
Bookends c. 1930
Hand-painted and glazed earthenware
For more information see: Walter Bosse: Leben, Kunst, und Handwerk, 1904-1979, Cherica Schreyer-Hartmann, Hans Hagen & Johanna Hottenroth (Vienna: Verlag Christian Brandstätter, 2000), Wiener Keramik: Historismus, Jugendstil, Art Déco, Waltraud Neuwirth, (Braunschweig: Klinkhardt & Bierman, 1974), pp. 114-115.
H: 5″ x D: 4 1/2″ x W: 5 1/4″
Price: $2,250
Walter Bosse (November 13, 1904–December 13, 1979) was a Viennese artist, designer, ceramist, potter, metalworker, and craftsman noted for his modernist bronze animal figurines and grotesques.
Walter Bosse, born November 13, 1904, in Vienna, was the son of artists Luise and Julius Bosse. His father worked as a portrait painter at the imperial court. Walter Bosse attended the Wiener Kunstgewerbeschule (Vienna School of Applied Arts) from 1918 to 1921, where he studied ceramics under Michael Powolny, and ornament under Franz Cižek. He then attended the Münchner Kunstgewerbeschule (Munich School of Applied Arts). During his schooling he was given the opportunity to sell his work at the Wiener Werkstätte by Josef Hoffmann, who became a mentor to Bosse. Bosse opened his own shop in Kufstein in 1923.
Bosse’s work grew in popularity and a number of his pieces were shown at the International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts in 1925. He started designing for Augarten Porcelain Works (1924) as well as Goldscheider (1926) and Metzler and Ortloff (1927). In 1931, to meet increasing demand (especially in America), Bosse opened up a bigger shop in Kufstein, but by 1933 he started to feel the effects of the economic depression. By 1937, the Kufstein works were closed.
In 1938, now divorced, Bosse moved back to Vienna where he founded Bosse-Keramik (Bosse Ceramics), which expanded under the new name “Terra” to include glass, toys, textiles. and a variety of craft items for the gift market. In the late 1940s, Bosse began experimenting with brass by giving his ceramic figures a metal coating to protect them from breakage. In the early 1950s, Bosse began his “Black Golden” line of brass figurines. He transitioned all of his efforts to brass. The figures became popular worldwide.
Despite Bosse’s success with his brass figures, it was still a difficult time for him financially. In 1953, partly fleeing from financial troubles, he moved to Iserlohn where he set up a new shop and continued production. Bosse also collaborated with Karlsruhe State Majolika Works on a number of pottery animal figures. In 1958, he designed for Achatit Schirmer in Cologne. Bosse also turned his efforts to small, everyday items such as letter openers, keyrings, corkscrews, and pencil holders, all of which bear his distinctive “black and gold” look. A number of these Bosse designs began to gain widespread popularity internationally.
WOLFGANG KREIDL (1906-1972) Dresden, Germany
MAX ROESLER FEINSTEINGUTFABRIK A.G. Germany
“Darmstadt” charger c. 1930
Brown, orange and cream glazed earthenware with a triangle and circle airbrush design, on stand
Marks: Max Roesler Rodach (shield mark), 9, 2925, 6239 1 (under the glaze)
Model illustrated: Keramiken der Neuen Sammlung im Internationalen Keramik-Museum Weiden, Hans Wichmann, (Munich: Staatliches Museum für angewandte Kunst, 1990), cover image and p. 65; Design Contra Art Déco: 1927-1932 Jahrfünft der Wende, Hans Wichman (Munich: Prestel Verlag, 1993), p. 101.
For more information about Wolfgang Kreidel and other models with matching air brush design see: Max Roesler, Keramik zwischen Jugendstil und Art Deco, Rolf Peters (Darmstadt: Museum Künstlerkolonie Darmstadt, 1998), p. 98-102.
Dia: 12 5/8”
STEINGUTFABRIKEN VELTEN-VORDAMM Werk Velten, Germany
Vase c. 1920
Handpainted and glazed earthenware
Marks: VELTEN-VORDAMM company logo, 42
Similar work illustrated: Keramik und Bauhaus, Klaus Weber et al., exhib. cat. (Berlin: Bauhaus-Archiv, 1989), p. 229, illus. 289.
H: 7″
STEINGUTFABRIKEN VELTEN-VORDAMM Werk Velten, Germany
Vase c. 1920
Handpainted and glazed earthenware
Marks: VELTEN-VORDAMM company logo
Similar work illustrated: Keramik und Bauhaus, Klaus Weber et al., exhib. cat. (Berlin: Bauhaus-Archiv, 1989), p. 229, illus. 289.
H: 5” x Dia: 5 1/2″