Archibald Knox / Liberty & Co. Rare Sterling and Opal caviar server 1904
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Archibald Knox / Liberty & Co. Rare Sterling and Opal caviar server 1904
ARCHIBALD KNOX (1864-1933) UK
LIBERTY & COMPANY London, UK
Cymric tri-handled covered server 1904
Sterling silver with repoussé Celtic knot motifs and three buttress handles; the handle of the domed lid inset with a jelly opal, cylindrical crystal bowl.
Marks: No. 5199, Liberty & Co., CYMRIC and Birmingham assay marks for 1904 (all the marks appear both on the underside of the base and on the cover)
Christian Dell / Bauhaus “Tee-Ei” Tea infusers (Rare set of eight) 1924
CHRISTIAN DELL (1893-1974) Germany
BAUHAUS (1919-1933) Germany
“Tee-Ei” (tea ball) 1924 (rare set of 8)
Silvered brass.
***These are all in fine original, untouched condition.
Illustrated: Christian Dell: Silberschmied und Leuchtengestalter im 20. Jahrhundert, Beate Alice Hofmann, Museum Hanau (Hanau: Heller Druck,1996) illus. 15, p.56; Modernist Design 1880-1940, Alastair Duncan, The Norwest Collection (Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Antique Collectors’ Club, 1998), p. 173; Decorative Arts 1850-1950, Judy Rudoe, (London: British Museum Press, 1991) cover, p. 276; Die Metall Werkstatt am Bauhaus, (Berlin: Bauhaus-Archiv, Museum für Gestaltung, 1992) pp. 140-141 Silver of a New Era, (Rotterdam: Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, 1992) p. 157; cat. no. 140.
Length: 5 1/4″
Price: $9,600
Christian Dell, metal artist and industrial designer, played a formative role in shaping the Bauhaus style. Dell was the master of the metal workshop at the Bauhaus, 1922-25, in Weimar, working closely with László Moholy-Nagy.
Born the son of a locksmith in Offenbach in 1893, he had a great impact as a teacher on the curriculum of the Weimar metal workshop. He had done an apprenticeship as a silversmith in Hanau before and had also attended the drawing academy, followed by a stay at the Weimar School of Applied Art. Henry van de Velde, director of this institution, coined Christian Dell’s early works with his organic-flowing use of forms, a feature that can also be observed on Dell’s later works.
Metal workshop at the Bauhaus in Weimar:
From 1922, the former goldsmith, silversmith and coppersmith workshops of the Weimar phase became a laboratory for design where metal vessels and lamps were made. This is also where the designs for industry, as well as metal furniture, were ultimately created. In 1922, the silversmith Christian Dell took over as master of works. Following Itten’s departure in 1923, the workshop developed in a new direction with the Hungarian Constructivist László Moholy-Nagy. Instead of individual pieces, prototypes were now made for mass production. In order to manufacture the individual models, a production line was established.
Archibald Knox / Liberty & Co. Pair of tri-footed vases c. 1902-05
ARCHIBALD KNOX (1864-1933) UK
LIBERTY & CO. London
Pair of tri-footed vases c. 1902-05
Pewter with abstract Celtic floral design in bas-relief on tri-footed base
Marks: 6, MADE BY LIBERTY & CO.., ENGLISH PEWTER 0227
Illustrated: Archibald Knox, ed. by Stephen A. Martin (London: Academy Editions, 1995) ; Liberty Design 1874-1914, Barbara Morris (London: Pyramid Books, 1989) p. ; The Designs of Archibald Knox for Liberty & Co., A.J. Tilbrook (London: Ornament Press Ltd., 1976)
Archibald Knox / Liberty & Co. Double inkwell stand c. 1902-05
ARCHIBALD KNOX (1864-1933) UK
LIBERTY & CO. London
Double inkwell stand c. 1902-05
Pewter with abstract Celtic design in bas-relief
Condition: excellent, no repairs or damage
Marks: 3, ENGLISH PEWTER 00715
Illustrated: Archibald Knox, ed. by Stephen A. Martin (London: Academy Editions, 1995) p 113; Liberty Design 1874-1914, Barbara Morris (London: Pyramid Books, 1989) p. 86; The Designs of Archibald Knox for Liberty & Co., A.J. Tilbrook (London: Ornament Press Ltd., 1976) p. 158.
H: 2 ¾” x W: 9 ¼” x D: 4”
This early British inkwell stand demonstrates the profound influence of Celtic ornament upon Knox and his highly individual and sophisticated use of these ancient graphic devices of interlocking loops and tendrils.
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