Hermae Vase, c. 1906

Together with Bertold Löffler (1874–1960), the ceramicist and sculptor Michael Powolny (1871–1954) set up a manufactory, Wiener Keramik, in 1905. It collaborated closely with the Wiener Werkstätte and was eventually taken over by Gmundner Keramik in 1913 and successfully continued under the name of Vereinigte Wiener und Gmundner Keramik. This white glazed vase is based on a design by Powolny from around 1906. Posted around the central cylinder of the vase are three female herms. In ancient art, herms are pillars or columns that were originally crowned with a bust of the Grecian god Hermes. Powolny, however, replaced him with three bare-breasted, erotic-looking women more in keeping with the tastes of Jugendstil. Their hairstyles, on the other hand, look like a spreading headdress and are reminiscent of similar depictions from classical antiquity but also of Jugendstil.

MR, 2021