Bertold Löffler
Dose mit Schmetterling (no. 315)
circa 1912-20
This bowl’s clean ceramic body is beautifully balanced by its leaf- and butterfly-topped finial. This bit is intended to be easily pinched and lifted up by two delicate fingers, uncovering whatever is sheltered inside. Its hat-like décor is meant to be cluttered and highly graphic, with all types of patterns, shapes and suggested textures crawling and tumbling over one another as if racing to see who might reach the summit first. Echoing the familiar bellflower shape seen in many of the Wiener Werkstätte designs, the bowl’s body brings to mind the natural effect of gravity: its weight pools at its base, forming something like a small mayonnaise dish, while its other half seems to be drawn upwards, slowly, as if by an unseen pull, then topped with the charming still-life. As far as what the Workshop(s) tried to achieve, this Dose can be seen as a fine example of a successful Gesamtkunstwerk, or ‘total work of art’. Its married elements of art, form and common, everyday usage are stripped to the bare, made simple. The ‘glue’ which artists as Löffler then used to meld these elements into place (or, in other words, into an approved ‘WW’ work of art) was their individual take of Viennese aesthetics; their core style and expression; their final and most personal touch to the piece. It is arguable that Löffler’s most distinct touch throughout his œuvre is his style of structure, much like Michael Powolny's. Both use the momentum of confident contours to guide and focus one’s attention on the ‘pinnacle’ aspect of the artwork, whether it is a patch of geometric colours crowning the head of a bird, or the tensed feet of a snail-riding putto. The idea was to give the work of art an internal source of spotlight so that no matter how or where it might be seen (implying its day-to-day usage), the work - or in this case, the Dose - would be able to shine on its own. Proud, single and independent.
