Luxury Design, Past & Present
Today the decoration variant “Gitterwerk” is among the most important designs of the Viennese architect Prof. Josef Hoffmann. Hoffmann likely got his inspiration from his colleague Charles Rennies Macintosh during their time of artistic exchange right before the founding of the Wiener Werkstatte. Even today this ornamentic design is being presented as a prime example of the genius of Josef Hoffmann as true designer of the modernism.
The strongly reduced use of forms in combination with the perforated " Gitterwerk " ornamentation is a perfect example of the Viennese Jugendstil. Most of the pieces with enamel lacquer have a stamp "Wiener Werk Stätte" in the a three-line block on the bottom. These flower baskets were designed around 1906 and have the model number M 0551. A contemporary photography can be found in the archive of the Wiener Werkstatte in the Museum für angewandte Kunst in Vienna with the inventory number WWF 97-24-2. The original glass inlay makes these baskets a real rarity.