Skip to content
ONLINECOLLECTION

War Glass, 1914

Leopold Museum,
Vienna
Glass, enamel colors
8.8×8.1×8.1 cm

Artists

  • Josef Hoffmann

    (Pirnitz 1870–1956 Vienna)

  • Helene Gabler

    (Vienna 1897–[?])

  • Joh. Oertel & Co.
  • Wiener Werkstätte
Unfortunately not on display at the moment
With the outbreak of World War I, the Wiener Werkstätte and its associated production facilities faced personnel shortages and sales problems. Among their compensation efforts was the production of war glasses, which proved especially successful as the ministry of public works requested in 1915 that artists “express the patriotic purpose” in their works; in February of that year, an exhibition of “war memorabilia” had been held at the Austrian Museum of Art and Industry. In the case of plain, cylindrical drinking glasses, the decoration consisted of linear enamel colors, often representing the colors of the flags of the allied Central Powers. In the present example, the motif is made up of the blowing flags of Germany, Hungary, Austria and the Ottoman Empire, one behind the other, on a flower meadow. The placement of the Ottoman Empire’s flag in front may be a reference to this state’s entry into the War on the side of the Central Powers in late October 1914.

Object data

Artist/author
  • Design: Josef Hoffmann
  • Design Decor: Helene Gabler
  • Execution: Joh. Oertel & Co.
  • for the: Wiener Werkstätte
Title
War Glass
Date
1914
Art movement
Wiener Werkstätte
Category
Arts and crafts
Material​/technique
Glass, enamel colors
Dimensions
8.8×8.1×8.1 cm
Credit line of the permanent loan
Ernst Ploil, Vienna
Selection of Reference works
  • Wien 1900. Aufbruch in die Moderne, hrsg. von Hans-Peter Wipplinger, Wien 2019 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, ab 15.03.2019).
Keywords

If you have further information on this object, please contact us.

Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i

For provenance related information, please contact us.