Product Description
Tommi Parzinger / American Art Deco Coffee Table circa 1939
TOMMI PARZINGER (1903-1981) Germany/USA
PARZINGER, INC. New York
Coffee table c.1939
Carved and ceruse oak with an incised diamond pattern pewter top
Illustrated: Arts and Decoration, June 1940
***This table was originally priced at $80 during the period, as it appears in the Arts and Decoration vintage illustration from 1940.
For other examples of Parzinger’s work see: Town & Country, Vol. 54, “Counter Points”, December 1939, p. 31; Town & Country, Vol. 95, “Counter Points”, June 1940, p. 19; The Studio, 1938, “For the Table”, p.107-09; The Studio, 1942, “Tommi Parzinger, Designer of Modern Interiors and Silver”, p.37; Decorative Art, Studio Yearbook (London & New York: The Studio Publications, 1952-53), p. 98; Craft in the Machine Age, ed. Janet Kardon (New York: American Craft Museum, 1995) p.128, 134, 183, 241.
H: 12” x L: 42” x D: 14”
Price: $34,500
This is a wonderful and rare coffee table by Tommi Parzinger in beautifully detailed ceruse oak with a diamond pattern pewter inset top. This table was
completely handmade and dates from 1940, shortly after Parzinger opened his first eponymous gallery on East 57th Street. It is low and lean with exquisite Neoclassical Revival carved details and a silhouette that calls to mind an American take on Jean Michel Frank’s sober and refined elegance of the same time period. The cross-hatch carving with tassels on the two long sides and the related top corner details also have a charm reminiscent of Parzinger’s affable personality and effervescent design sensibility.
Tommi Parzinger / American Art Deco Coffee Table circa 1939
GUSTAV GURSCHNER (1873-1970) Austria
Vase c. 1905
Cast bronze ovoid shaped vase with decorative Celtic motif, lightly gilded, the body of the vase simulating leather with a rich brown patina
Signed: GURSCHNER, M180 (stamped in the bronze)
Related works illustrated: The Studio, Special Summer Number 1906: The Art Revival in Austria, ill. no. D6; Studio Yearbook (London, 1909), pp. 139-140; Vienna Turn of the Century: Art and Design, Fischer Fine Art, exhib. cat. (London 1979), p. 23, illus. 1; Bronzes, sculptors & Founders, H. Berman, (Atglen 1994 III) p. 781, cat. nos. 2893, 2894; Decorative Art 1880-1980, Dan Klein & Margaret Bishop (Oxford, England: Phaidon and Christie’s Limited, 1986) p. 84, illus. 1
H: 7 1/4″ x D: 7″ x D: 4″
Price: $14,500
Gustav Gurschner was born in Tirol, Austria. He attended the Fachschule für Holzindustrie in Bozen from 1885-1888. After three years, his instructors encouraged him to attend the Austrian Museum for Applied Arts’ Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna. After finishing his formal training, Gurschner pursued a career as a sculptor of monumental works. It was while he was in Paris in 1897, that he first turned his energies from the application of small-scale, sculptural works to the aesthetic design of household objects. Shortly thereafter, he returned to Vienna to join the Secessionists whose ideals he shared. By the turn-of-the-century, Gurschner was not only one of the better known artists working in Vienna but enjoyed a reputation that extended into other European countries as well.
ROYCROFT COPPER SHOP East Aurora, N.Y.
Pair of candlesticks c. 1915.
Hand wrought and textured copper, silver-plated.
Marks: impressed R, in orb with cross, ROYCROFT
For more information see: The American Arts & Crafts Movement in Western New York 1900-1928, Bruce A. Austin (Rochester Institute of Technology, 1992); Arts & Crafts Movement in New York State 1890’s – 1920’s, Coy Ludwig (Hamilton, N.Y.: Gallery Association of New York, 1983).
H: 6″ x W: 6 7/8″ x D: 2 5/8″