Lot 88

Peter Behrens (1868 - 1940) AN ART NOUVEAU VASE

In 1899 Behrens accepted the invitation of Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse to co-build an artists' colony in Darmstadt. There the artist built an incredibly expensive and stylistically pure Art Nouveau house. It was a turning point in the focus of his interests and in the successful completion of his vision of the "gesamtkunstwerk". In 1903 he became director of his own Kunstgewerbeschule in Düsseldorf. Three years later, together with Hermann Muthesie, Josef Hoffmann and Joseph Maria Olbrich, they joined forces to found the German Werkbund, which was to operate on the principles of the Arts and Craft movement to raise the general level of taste in Germany, an influential impulse supported by industrialists and investors. The rare Art Nouveau vase offered here, designed by Peter Behrens, was made by Merkelbach & Wick, Grenzhausen, Westerwälder Neukeramik, with model number 2055. It is a challenging realization of an electroplating decorative mounting made of gilded copper set in ceramic with an opalescent glaze. Excellent condition.