- Museum number
- 1993,1012.5
- Description
-
Candelabrum; brass, cast and wrought, with twelve arms and a central shaft, making thriteen branches in all. The arms are constructed of six elements, each comprising of a pair of branches, which swivel round the centre of the shaft, so that they can be arranged in the same plane, or at right angles to each other, forming a three-dimensional structure in the shape of a stylised tree.
- Production date
- 1901
- Dimensions
-
Height: 410 millimetres
-
Width: 710 millimetres (at maximum point)
- Curator's comments
- Made by K.M. Seifert & Co., for the Vereinigte Werkstätten für Kunst im Handwerk, after a design by Bruno Paul.
Text from J. Rudoe, 'Decorative Arts 1850-1950', revised ed. 1994, no. 406:
Bruno Paul studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Dresden and from 1894 at the Munich Academy, supplying caricatures for the satirical magazine, Simplicissismus. In 1897 he was a founder member of the Vereinigte Werkstätten, with whom he exhibited at the Paris 1900 Exhibition, at Turin in 1902 and St.Louis in 1904.
This large candelabrum, with its ceremonial appearance, has been described as 'the most spectacular of all Jugendstil candelabras' (G.Dry in Munich 1988, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 'Art Nouveau in Munich', cat.no.77). It was until recently attributed to Pankok and was first published as by Paul by Graham Dry, with reference to its exhibition at the Munich Ausstellung für Kunst im Handwerk in 1901 (Katalog, 61, no.145) and the following information summarizes his catalogue entry (op.cit.above). It was sold in several sizes by the Vereinigte Werkstätten until at least 1914, though it appears to have been most popular between 1901 and 1907 when it forms a regular decorative feature in contemporary illustrations of rooms by the Vereinigte Werkstätten (for example, Die Kunst, 12. 1905, 367). The use of bold forms with simple ribbed decoration marks a move away from the dependence on stylised plant forms that characterized early Munich Jugendstil work up to 1900 (see 1993,10-12,7, candlestick by R.Müller).
Only two other versions of this candelabrum have been recorded, one in the Stadtmuseum, Munich (Munich 1988, cat.no.77) and one in a private collection in Germany (Munich 1992, Stadttmuseum Munich, 'Bruno Paul: Deutsche Raumkunst und Architektur zwischen Jugendstil und Moderne'', exhibition catalogue, no.176). This third example has been in the same Munich family since it was bought in the early 1900s.
For a 1930s candlestick by Paul, see 1993,10-12.6.
Information supplementary to Rudoe 1994: A similar candelabrum sold Sotheby's New York, 'Important Design', 14 December 2016, lot 210 (unsold).
- Location
- On display (G48/dc3)
- Condition
- good
- Acquisition date
- 1993
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1993,1012.5
