2013.31.A-E.McD Carl Otto Czeschka, Wittgenstein Vitrine (for the 1908 Kunstshau)

The monumental Wittgenstein Vitrine, or display cabinet, is the largest and most lavish known example of the silverwork of the Wiener Werkstätte. A masterpiece of early 20th-century design, it weighs over two hundred pounds and is made of solid silver encrusted with enamel, pearls, opal, and other stones, attached to an ebony-veneered base.

Designed by Werkstätte member Carl Otto Czeschka (1878-1960) and presented at the 1908 Vienna Kunstschau (Art Show), this work marks an important moment in the development of Viennese design. A talented artist and designer, Czeschka joined the Vienna Secession in 1900 and, in 1902, began teaching drawing at the city’s Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Applied Arts). In 1904, he joined the Werkstätte, where he produced designs for their first postcards in 1905 and subsequently a host of objects, from furnishings to jewelry. His work in the graphic arts, including illustrations for Die Nibelungen (2014.35), reflected his artistic development in all media, including silverwork. The vitrine’s dominant motifs—a pair of sentinel-like caryatids or knights and the dominant bird and grapevine fretwork that wraps the case—are frequently reoccurring themes in his oeuvre. Favoring opulent decoration over a nonetheless architectural structure, this work expresses the Werkstätte’s ultimate embrace of a richly ornamental and symbolic aesthetic paralleling the work of famed Secessionist artist and Czeschka associate Gustav Klimt.

The vitrine was purchased by Karl Wittgenstein (1847–1913), a Viennese iron and steel magnate and the leader of one of the most powerful families in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Wittgenstein’s support had enabled the construction of Vienna’s Secession building in 1898. With brother Paul’s encouragement, the family engaged in a series of artistic and architectural commissions in the following years, including paintings by Klimt and the remodeling and furnishing of a number of their homes by the Werkstätte. The vitrine, originally installed in the Red Salon of the family’s mansion on Vienna’s Alleegasse, remained with Wittgenstein descendants until 1949 and was subsequently held in two private collections until its acquisition by the Dallas Museum of Art in 2013.

Kevin Tucker, "Modern Opulence in Vienna: The Wittgenstein Vitrine" Gallery text, "The Wittgenstein Vitrine," 2014.

From 1908: Karl Wittgenstein (1847-1913), Palais Wittgenstein, Vienna, Austria, purchased from the Wiener Werkstätte at the 1908 Kunstschau (Art Show), for 30,000 kronen [1]

 

Until 1949: his daughter, Mrs. Jerome (Margaret) Stonborough (née Wittgenstein) (1882-1958), New York, New York, by inheritance [2]

 

1949-1983: private collection, purchased at auction, "French Furniture, Old Vienna, Meissen, Other Porcelain, French and Other Old Faïence, Silver, Decorations: Property of Mrs. Jerome Stonborough, Baron & Baroness Raoul Kuffner de Dioszegh and Other Owners," Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, Friday, March 4, 1949, sale 1045, lot 597, as "Art Nouveau Wrought Silver, Enamel and Mother-of-Pearl Vitrine, by the Wiener Werkstaette" [2]

 

1983-2013: Benedict Silverman (b. 1929), New York, New York, purchased at auction, "Important Vienna Secessionist Works of Art," Sotheby's, New York, November 19, 1983, sale 5113, lot 500, as "Fine and Highly Important Jewel-Mounted Silver Vitrine Created for the Kunstschau, Vienna, 1908," for $270,000 plus 10% buyer’s premium [3]

 

From 2013: Dallas Museum of Art, The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., purchased from the above through Macklowe Gallery (Benjamin Macklowe), New York, New York [4] 

 

[1] A. S. Levetus, “The ‘Wiener Werkstätte,’ Vienna,” “The Studio: An Illustrated Magazine of Fine & Applied Art” Volume 52, Number 217 (April 15 1911): 196. Karl Wittgenstein also listed in the Sotheby's auction catalogue, November 19, 1983, lot 500 (copy in Collections Records Object File).  

 

[2] Mrs. Jerome Stonborough listed in the Parke-Bernet auction catalogue, March 4, 1949, p. 101 and the Sotheby's auction catalogue, November 19, 1983, lot 500 (copy in Collections Records Object File). 

 

[3] Eve M. Kahn, "Not All Medieval Sacred Art was Anti-Semitic," The New York Times, October 30, 2014, accessed February 18, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/31/arts/design/not-all-medieval-sacred-art-was-anti-semitic-.html. 

 

[4] Works of art given or purchased by The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., a non-profit organization, are placed in the custody of the DMA for the purpose of public display on the premises of the Museum or in other recognized art galleries or museum. The title to all works of art purchased (or otherwise acquired) by the McDermott Art Fund remains with the Fund.

UMOS PENDING

[Preparatory drawing for the Wittgenstein Vitrine. Source: Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst / Gegenwartskunst, Vienna, WWE 174-1]

[Preparatory drawing for the Wittgenstein Vitrine. Source: Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst / Gegenwartskunst, Vienna, WWE 174-2]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/236dy7irwu6p8ll/2013.31.A-E.McD_Contextual_Image_3.jpg?dl=0 

[Preparatory drawing for the Wittgenstein Vitrine. Source: Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst / Gegenwartskunst, Vienna, WWE 174-3]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jg6sij2vxf81eal/2013.31.A-E.McD_Contextual_Image_4.jpg?dl=0 

[Sheet 1000 of the Wiener Werkstätte silver workbook. Source: Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst / Gegenwartskunst, Vienna]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yi2l8emaw6solnc/2013.31.A-E.McD_Contextual_Image_5.jpg?dl=0 

[Wiener Werkstätte Gallery (Room 50) at the 1908 Kunstschau. Source: Charles Holme, ed, The Studio: An Illustrated Magazine of Fine & Applied Art Volume 52, Number 217 (April 15 1911): 196]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/13i8yo1ey1q6u8q/2013.31.A-E.McD_Contextual_Image_6.jpg?dl=0 

[The Wittgenstein Vitrine installed in the Red Salon of the Palais Wittgenstein, c. 1910. Object Source: Bildarchiv, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna. Image Source: Tobias Natter, Die Welt von Klimt, Schiele und Kokoschka: Sammler und Mäzene (Köln: Dumont, 2003), 46.]

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