“Kakedose” for Gustav Klimt’s 50th birthday, 1912

This silver cookie tin was designed in 1912 by the interior architect, designer, set decorator, fashion designer and painter Eduard Josef Wimmer-Wisgrill (1882–1961) for the Wiener Werkstätte. This multi-talented artist studied from 1901 to 1907 at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts under Josef Hoffmann (1870–1956), Koloman Moser (1868–1918) and Alfred Roller (1864–1935). For many years, he headed the Wiener Werkstätte’s fashion department. The design was executed by the silversmith Alfred Mayer. As can be inferred from the inscription, the tin was given to the painter Gustav Klimt (1862–1918) on his 50th birthday as a present by the Wiener Werkstätte. For the tin’s body, foot and lid, eight nearly trapezoid and triangular surfaces made from gold-plated silver were soldered together, with a bead-and-reel decoration as paneling along the edges. The repoussé ornaments depict floral and other vegetal shapes. The knob, by contrast, is made from turned ivory.

MR, 2021