418 - Anton KOTHGASSER (Vienna, 1769–1851)

Anton KOTHGASSER (Vienna, 1769–1851) View of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. Flared glass goblet with a polychrome painted decoration depicting a view of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. Inscribed in gold: “Domkirche zu St. Stephan in Wien.” Signed on the curve of the stem diametrically opposite the painted scene: “A[nton]. K[othgasser].” Preserved in its original red morocco leather case. A stain on the painted scene; a chip on the reverse of the base. Vienna (Austria), circa 1815–1820. H. 11.5 x W. 8.5 cm. Provenance A French aristocratic family since the early 19th century. Bibliography - Gustav E. Pazaurek, Eugen von Philippovich, *Gläser der Empire-und Biedermeierzeit*, 1976, p. 189, fig. 169. - Kovacek, *Katalog Biedermeier, Einblicke in die Idylle*, 2007, p. 74, cat. no. 41, a comparable goblet with a notched rim at the base, signed “A. K.” in black. - Paul von Lichtenberg, Mohn & Kothgasser, *Transparent bemaltes Biedermeierglas*, 2009, p. 286, fig. 170. Related Work A very similar goblet with slight variations in the decoration, sold at Auktionshaus im Kinsky GmbH, Vienna, October 18, 2016, lot 409. History Anton Kothgasser (or Kothgaßner), born in Vienna in 1769, was a porcelain painter and glass artist who worked at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts (Wiener Kunstakademie) beginning in 1781. He studied figurative drawing with the German painter Heinrich Füger; from 1784 until 1840, he was employed at the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory as its chief designer, painter No. 96. Beginning in 1811, while continuing to work for the Manufactory and independently of it, he devoted himself to glass painting, a craft to which he was introduced by Gottlob Samuel Mohn, who was twenty years his junior and had settled in Vienna in 1811. He received numerous awards, including one on September 6, 1811, and permission on May 20, 1816, “to work from home for a few months on his glass painting.” He initially devoted himself to painting on flat glass, but soon came to prefer painting on hollow glass using transparent enamel (transparent paint). This technique was invented by Samuel Mohn, who took a particular interest in this method between 1815 and 1830.