Master Art

Nickel-plated brass, bead-and-reel decoration, cut crystal and lead glass prisms and beads (some of them replaced) on three levels, upper section with glass ball fringe, recently rewired, excellent original condition.

Designed by: Karl Witzmann, School of Prof. Josef Hoffmann
Executed by: E. Bakalowits Söhne attr., Vienna, around 1906

Josef Hoffmann made multiple use of chandeliers with fringes consisting of strings of glass beads for a number of interiors designed after 1904. Koloman Moser also employed this element for lighting fixtures. The bead-and-reel decoration affixed to the hoop and the two rosettes is a stylistic element that both Hoffmann and Moser enjoyed using and which was also adopted by their students. In this particular case, the provenance through the Donath family is an undeniable indication of it being Hoffmann school. In the Donath residence there were other lighting fixtures that have been substantiated as designs by Karl Witzmann.