588 - Four Art Nouveau Vessels of Copper and Brass, Two Vessels with WMF logo, circa 1905

Four Art Nouveau Vessels of Copper and Brass, Two Vessels with WMF logo, circa 1905 Four pieces of copper with mounts and feet of brass, in the Art Nouveau style. 1) Tall three-legged stand, the curved brass legs joined at the top to form an openwork ornamental band, suspended in it a copper vessel with a domed lid, beneath it a copper bowl with an encircling row of rivets, the base with the struck ostrich mark in a lozenge. 2) Match holder of copper on three brass legs ending in floral ornament, over a triangular base, likewise with the ostrich mark on the underside. 3) Beaker-shaped copper vessel on a claw-shaped stand. 4) Beaker-shaped copper vessel on three curved feet; the walls with applied brass ornaments. Condition commensurate with age, patina in places, dented and bent in places. H. max. 22 cm. Around 1900 the Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik in Geislingen an der Steige ran its own line of decorative household objects in copper and brass which translated the floral vocabulary of Art Nouveau into comparatively affordable table wares. The ostrich mark goes back to the company's founder Daniel Straub; it was used in its first form from 1903 and remained in altered shape in use for non-ferrous metal ware into the 1920s, while silver-plated products received the beehive mark from 1909. Copper with applied brass mounts was for WMF a deliberate alternative to expensive silver plating and was aimed at middle-class households who wanted the new style on their table.