Viking Ship Shaped Abstract Viennese Bowl With Dragon Head Handles Silver 800

Würbel & Czokally, Vienna – Art Nouveau Bowl / Jardinière in Viking Longship Form, Silver 800, circa 1903/04 Würbel & Czokally, Vienna · k.k. Hoflieferant · Silver 800 · Diana Head 1872–1922 · Viking Longship · Dragon Heads · Width 31 cm · Weight 461 g

A two-handled bowl / jardinière in silver 800, of oval form evoking a Viking longship (drakkar), designed and executed by the Silberwarenfabrik Würbel & Czokally in Vienna circa 1903/1904. Width 31 cm · height 6.1 cm · weight 461 g. The walls are geometrically cut with triangular reliefs evoking the combat shields of a Nordic vessel. Handles in the form of abstract dragon heads of great plastic force. Hallmarks: maker's mark W&C (Würbel & Czokally) · master mark AP in a notched rectangle · Diana head / Dianakopf (Viennese official silver mark 800, in use 1872–1922) · official letter A.

The decorative vocabulary of this bowl is remarkably singular within the Würbel & Czokally production: the Viking longship theme — prow and stern decorated with monster heads, sides adorned with shields — reflects the influence of Scandinavian National Romanticism in Viennese Jugendstil silversmithing, a minority but significant tendency coexisting with the floral Art Nouveau and the rigour of the Secession. The triangular geometric cut walls are particularly modern and bold for the period.

The Silberwarenfabrik Würbel & Czokally was founded in Vienna in 1864 by Vincenz Czokally, a specialist in table and display pieces in the late Historicist style, highly esteemed at the Court of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. In 1892 Carl Würbel joined the firm; thenceforth designated Würbel & Czokally, the house marked its pieces with the W&C mark and crossed hammers above an anvil. A supplier to the Imperial Court (k.k. Hoflieferant), the firm also collaborated with Josef Hoffmann, one of the founders of the Vienna Secession — testimony to its openness towards the avant-garde. Carl Hagenauer, the future founder of the celebrated Hagenauer house, served his apprenticeship at Würbel & Czokally before opening his own workshop in 1898.

• Width: 31 cm · Height: 6.1 cm · Weight: 461 g
• Material: silver 800
• Hallmarks: W&C (Würbel & Czokally) · AP in notched rectangle · Diana head / Dianakopf (Vienna 1872–1922) · official letter A
• Decoration: Viking longship (drakkar) · abstract dragon heads · geometric triangular walls
• Production: Würbel & Czokally, Vienna, circa 1900–1910
• Literature: Neuwirth, Wiener Gold- und Silberschmiede und ihre Punzen 1867–1922, Vienna, 1979, II/288
• Condition: very good · minimal traces of use

Seen in museums — available to you.

Available for viewing by appointment at our Düsseldorf gallery.

Keywords integrated: Würbel Czokally Vienna, Viking longship bowl silver 800, Viennese Jugendstil 1900, k.k. Hoflieferant, Josef Hoffmann, Hagenauer, Diana head 1872-1922, Nordic National Romanticism

Of particular art-historical interest is Würbel & Czokally’s documented collaboration with Josef Hoffmann during precisely this period. Silver tableware designed by Hoffmann and executed by Würbel & Czokally is documented as early as 1902. Furthermore, Hoffmann silver objects made by Würbel & Czokally were exhibited at the international exhibition “Die Kinderwelt” in St Petersburg in 1903/04.