Austrian Antique Brass Jardinière Or Planter

This Secession Movement Jardinière/Planter Is A Tremendous Example Of This Movement In Its Purist Form!

This little planter or jardinière is Austrian in origin and is exquisitely hand crafted giving great detail to the zoological and botanical elements that were components of the Art & Crafts Movement in terms of styles and creations of art in history during this time period.

The Austrians called this Period of Style “Secession Movement”; Americans called it “Arts & Crafts Movement” and Europeans called it “Art Nouveau Movement”. All in all, either name was basically describing the same movement which drew inspirations from the natural forces of nature.

COMMENT:  The Gracious Swan Shape Handle On Each Side With The “Dove” Scene In The Banding  At The Circumference Makes This Piece A Wonderful Example of This Period Of Art In History. 

CONDITION: This brass jardiniere is in fine condition considering its antiquity. It does have a few minor dents which attests to its age.

GENERAL CONDITION OF ANTIQUE METALS:

Some denting of antique metals generally attest to the authenticity of the antiquity of metals and is considered acceptable by collector and dealer standards. This is not to say that all metals that have dents are antique. Other than denting, there are other things to look for such as how it is assembled or joined or welded. Look for quality impressed maker's marks or other factory marks such as year dates and numbers which accompany some antique metals. Most antique hollow-ware metal pieces, such as jardinieres or planters, large bowls, tea kettles, etc will almost always have bottom interior oxidation. Oxidization both on the interior and exterior of a piece is also acceptable and is considered as "patina" by purists.

HISTORY OF SECESSION MOVEMENT:

(Quote taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The Vienna Secession (also known as Secessionsstil, or Sezessionsstil in Austria) was part of the highly varied Secessionism movement that is now covered by the general term Art Nouveau. It was formed in 1897 by a group of 19 Vienna artists who had resigned from the Association. The first president was Gustav Klimt.

SECESSION

Together with other artists, Josef Hoffmann established the so-called "Siebener Club". After Hoffmann demonstratively left the Künstlerhaus with a number of colleagues including Gustav Klimt and Kolo Moser, an organization of graphic artists, the Secession, was founded in 1897. The new organization’s home built by Josef Maria Olbrich offered young Hoffmann, as an organizer of the exhibitions, ideal opportunities to present himself to an art loving and progressive circle of potential clients. The society of those days seemed to show an interest in art to an extent which was unknown before. The conventional salons, academies and the like very quickly lost their influence in the same way - as modernity questions the authority of tradition.

If one takes a look at Hoffmann's works from this time, one can clearly identify the influence of Otto Wagner's school, which determined the structure of an object through the emphasis on the surface. This was as important to Hoffmann as Belgian Art Nouveau influenced the Secessionists.

In 1899 Hoffmann's name was so well known, that he was appointed as a professor at the Viennese School of Applied Arts (Kunstgewerbeschule) and commissioned for the interior-design at the World Fair in Paris of 1900. At the beginning of 1900 a basic change in his style can be noticed. With the turning away from the curves of the Secession and Art Nouveau a trend toward simpler forms appeared. At this time patterns from Britain had their special influence on Hoffmann. His admiration of the latest developments in architecture and applied arts in Britain is easy to be explained. On the one hand numerous illustrated magazines allowed an exchange of information. On the other hand there was a number of Secession exhibitions where British artists took part amongst them C.R. Ashbee and Charles Rennie Macintosh.

Starting with the 14th exhibition of the Viennese Secession (1902) there was a strict move to independence from other countries with the benchmark of The "Suppraportenrelief", a cubist engraving in plaster, designed by Josef Hoffmann for the foyer of the Secession building.

Hoffman’s explanation for his favour for circles and squares was that these forms never have been used before in applied and fine arts.

If one considers, that the term "Cubism" was used only from 1907, after Picasso had developed a new interpretation in history of arts, the importance of Josef Hoffmann’s step from 1902 can be appreciated.

Vienna Secession       
(1897-1939)
Austrian Artistic Movement

“In 1897 a group of Artists, such as Otto Wagner and his gifted students, Josef Hoffmann and Josef Olbrich, with Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser and others aspired to the renaissance of the arts and crafts and to bring more abstract and purer forms to the designs of buildings and furniture, glass and metalwork, following the concept of total work of art and to do so they tide to bring together Symbolists, Naturalists, Modernists, and Stylists.

Starting with the first exhibition in November 1898, the Vienna Secession Building presented works of the most important artists of the time as:
Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, Josef Maria Olbrich, Max Klinger, Walter Crane, Eugene Grasset, Signac, Charles Robert Ashbee, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Degas, Arnold Bocklin, Giovanni Segantini, Auguste Rodin, Edvard Munch, van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Vuillard, Bonnard, Redon, Gauguin, Otto Wagner,...

On 19th May, 1903 another association, the Wiener Werkstätte (German for the "Vienna Workshop") was registered in Vienna. The founders, Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser, both members of the Vienna Secession wanted to provide an outlet for graduates from the Kunstgewerbeschule. In 1905, the ongoing conflict between the naturalists, who had clung to many of the Kunstlerhaus tenets from the beginning of the Secession Movement, and the stylists finally proved irreconcilable.

At that time Klimt, Auchentaller, Boehm, Hoffmann, Moser and Roller, seceded from the Secession on the grounds that they could no longer be associated with the more realistic naturalists who refused to commit themselves to the "total work of art", a fundamental premise of the Secessionist Movement.

The "Klimt Group" held their exhibitions in 1908 in the Kunstschau, a temporary pavilion built by Josef Hoffmann, and the year represents the high-point in the decorative phase of late Art Nouveau."