Art Nouveau Round Table With Marquetry, Darmstadt Artists Colony, Germany Circa 1905

Round Table with Marquetry Inlays, Künstlerkolonie Darmstadt, circa 1905Attributed to the Circle of Josef Maria Olbrich · Precious Woods, Ebonised Veneer, Mother-of-Pearl Inlays

A round table in precious woods — sycamore, fruitwoods and ebonised veneer — with mother-of-pearl inlays and elaborate geometric marquetry, executed in the context of the Künstlerkolonie Mathildenhöhe at Darmstadt circa 1905. The structure of four fluted columns in pale wood rising from a cubic body with inlaid panels, crowned by a circular top with concentric line decoration and a central medallion, is characteristic of the formal vocabulary developed in the circle of Josef Maria Olbrich at Darmstadt: geometric contrast of light and dark, ornamental restraint and precision of cabinetmaking. In unrestored original condition.

A reference piece from this series — the music room cabinet — is preserved in the Museum Künstlerkolonie Darmstadt (Renate Ulmer, 1989/1990, pp. 194–195). Olbrich's interiors for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904 — including a music room — won the highest prize at the exhibition.

Josef Maria Olbrich (Troppau, 1867 – Düsseldorf, 1908) was co-founder of the Vienna Secession with Gustav Klimt, Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser in 1897. In 1899, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse appointed him chief architect of the Künstlerkolonie Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt — today inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List (2021). He died in Düsseldorf aged 40, leaving a body of work that influenced Frank Lloyd Wright and the pioneers of American modernism.

• Height: 76 cm · Diameter: 78 cm
• Materials: sycamore, fruitwoods, ebonised veneer, mother-of-pearl inlays, marquetry
• Attribution: circle of Josef Maria Olbrich, Darmstadt, circa 1905
• Condition: unrestored original condition

Seen in museums — available to you.

Available for viewing by appointment at our Düsseldorf gallery.

Keywords integrated: Josef Maria Olbrich, Künstlerkolonie Darmstadt, Jugendstil table 1905, Mathildenhöhe UNESCO, Vienna Secession, mother-of-pearl marquetry, German Art Nouveau furniture, Darmstadt 1900