Wiener Werkstätte Jewelry

The Wiener Werkstätte, or Vienna Workshops, was established in 1903 by Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser, artists who subscribed to the English Arts and Crafts ideal of exceptionally well-made objects designed by artists and executed by specialized craftsmen. Following the example of near contemporaries René Lalique and Louis Comfort Tiffany, Hoffmann and Moser shared the belief that jewelry should be valued for its artistic merit and not simply for its monetary value.
This opulent publication, written by Neue Gallerie curator and expert in the period, Janis Staggs, highlights masterpieces created by the Wiener Werkstätte between the firm's inception in 1903 and the early 1920s. It features significant pieces by Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser, Carl Otto Czeschka and Dagobert Peche, among others. Supplemental materials include relevant periodicals, design drawings and photographs of prominent clients, with an emphasis on fashion designer Emilie Floge, confidante of Gustav Klimt, who assembled a large collection of Wiener Werkstätte jewelry.