Silver objects from Art Deco & Art Nouveau – elegant collector's items
Silver-plated centerpiece by Emanuel Josef Margold
Design: circa 1910, detail of the mark: "LENK Vienna", manufactured by Lenk, circa 1920, brass, silver-plated. The original glass insert is missing.
This extraordinary centerpiece impresses with its harmonious proportions, finely executed silver plating, and subtle ornamentation with delicate leaf decoration in relief. It is an outstanding example of Austrian silver and metal art and fully embodies the elegance and precision of Viennese Art Nouveau in its late heyday.
The centerpiece's design dates back to around 1910 and is attributed to Emanuel Josef Margold. Margold's work marks the transition from floral Art Nouveau to the more functional formal language of Modernism. The centerpiece shown here, with its rhythmic structure and stylized floral reliefs, ideally illustrates this transition.
The centerpiece was manufactured by the Vienna-based Lenk'sche Metallwarenwerke, as evidenced by the Lenk Wien manufacturer's mark on the base. Lenkwerke, formerly Arnold, Wolkenstein & Glückselig, Wiener Chinasilber-Werke Wien, factories for arts and crafts metalware, was known for its excellent craftsmanship. They implemented the designs of fine metalwork with the highest craftsmanship and thus became important partners of the Wiener Werkstätte.
About the Designer: Emanuel Josef Margold
Emanuel Josef Margold (May 4, 1888, Vienna – May 2, 1962, Bratislava) was an architect, designer, and graphic artist. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, was an assistant to Josef Hoffmann in the master class, and worked at the Wiener Werkstätte. In May 1911, Margold was appointed to the Darmstadt Artists' Colony, where he set up a studio in the Ernst Ludwig House and created numerous designs for jewelry, porcelain, glass, fabrics, and wallpapers. Further stages of his career took him to Berlin in 1929 and, in 1938, to the School of Applied Arts in Bratislava as a professor.
