Art Nouveau Silver Service - Designed By Heinrich Vogeler - Tray, Cream Jug & Sugar Bowl 1903

Art Nouveau Silver Service · Design Heinrich Vogeler · Tray, Cream Jug & Sugar Bowl · Pattern Herbstzeitlose (Autumn Crocus) · Silver 800

Heinrich Vogeler · Art Nouveau Silver 800 Set / Ensemble · Pattern Herbstzeitlose · Tray, Cream / Milk Jug, Sugar Bowl · M. H. Wilkens & Söhne · Bremen, c. 1899–1903 monnogrammed G

Designer: Heinrich Vogeler (Bremen, 12.12.1872 – Karaganda, 14.06.1942)Maker: Silberwarenmanufaktur M. H. Wilkens & Söhne, Bremen (established 1810)Pattern: Herbstzeitlose (Autumn Crocus), Cutlery No. 138 / Hollowware pattern nos. 2803–2805Material: Silver 800Marks: Half-moon, crown, 800, Wilkens maker's mark; monogram G.Date: c. 1899–1903

Dimensions:Tray: H. 1.7 cm · W. 30.2 cm · D. 22.8 cm · Weight: 457 gCream jug: H. 11 cm · Weight: [198 g]Sugar bowl: H. 8.5 cm · W. 15 cm · Diam. 10.5 cm · Weight: 219 g - Total weight: 874 g

Condition: [very good]

A three-piece Art Nouveau silver service in the Herbstzeitlose (Autumn Crocus) pattern: an oval tray with engraved Herbstzeitlose decoration in the mirror, a milk or cream jug, and a sugar bowl with two lateral handles — all designed by Heinrich Vogeler and executed by the Bremen silverware manufactory M. H. Wilkens & Söhne.

The Herbstzeitlose pattern (cutlery no. 138) is among the most celebrated of Vogeler's designs for Wilkens, alongside the Tulipan pattern (no. 147, 1898/99) and the Apfelbäumchen / Margeritenmuster. The first documented order for hollowware in this pattern dates to 10 June 1899. The central decorative motif — leaves and blossoms of the autumn crocus growing from a root bulb, their stems crossing and intertwining — appears across all three pieces in carefully adapted form: as a flat engraving in the tray mirror, and as plastically modelled handles and wall decoration on the jug and bowl. A closely related piece, an electric tea kettle in the same pattern (Wilkens, 1903, order no. 148624, H. 18 cm, inv. no. 80.394), is documented in the standard reference Bremer Silber published by the Focke-Museum.

Works from this design programme are held in the collections of the Museum für Angewandte Kunst Cologne, the Deutsches Klingenmuseum Solingen, and the Focke-Museum Bremen. Matching ensembles in the Herbstzeitlose pattern are rare on the market.

Literature:

1910 M. H. Wilkens & Söhne (ed.): 1810–1910. Festschrift. Druckerei Freese, Bremen 1910.1912 Entholt, Hermann: Wilkens, Martin Heinrich. In: Bremische Biographie des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts. Gustav Winter, Bremen 1912.1981 Löhr, Alfred: Bremer Silber. Focke-Museum Bremen 1981.1991 Sänger, Reinhard W.: Das Deutsche Silber-Besteck 1805–1918. Arnoldsche, Stuttgart 1991, pp. 232 ff.2000 Grotkamp-Schepers / Sänger: Bestecke des Jugendstils. Deutsches Klingenmuseum Solingen. Arnoldsche 2000, p. 50, fig. 19.2001 Kerssenbrock-Krosigk / Kanowski: Metallkunst der Moderne. Bröhan-Museum, Berlin 2001.2010 Fellmann, Lena: 200 Jahre Wilkens Bremer Silberwaren. In: Bremisches Jahrbuch, vol. 89 (2010), pp. 167–229.2010 Wilkens, Manja: Jugendstil in Silber. Heinrich Vogeler und die Bremer Silberwarenmanufaktur M. H. Wilkens & Söhne. Aschenbeck Media / Barkenhoff-Stiftung, Worpswede 2010.