■ STEMGLAS (STENGELGLAS), designed 1909 by Otto Prutscher for Meyr's Neffe and commissioned by the Wiener Werkstätte, Vienna, the clear crystal bowl cut in three descending faceted tiers above a slender faceted stem on a circular foot, the architectural handling of the service glass characteristic of Prutscher's transition from Jugendstil ornament to the geometric vocabulary of the Viennese Secession. Uncased clear crystal, the variant less frequently encountered on the market than the cobalt, ruby and green overlay examples with which the model is more often associated.
Excellent condition consistent with age, without chips or repairs. Height 20.8 cm (8 ⅛ inches). The glass unmarked, as is usual for the Meyr's Neffe production of this model.
Otto Prutscher (Vienna, 1880-1949) trained at the Kunstgewerbeschule under Josef Hoffmann and Franz Matsch, and from 1909 collaborated with the Wiener Werkstätte as one of its most prolific designers of glass, metalwork and interiors, bridging the ornamental idiom of the turn of the century and the rectilinear clarity of Hoffmann's circle.
Literature:
□ Neuwirth, Das Glas des Jugendstils, illustrated p. 309.
□ Die Sammlung Schedlmayer, exh. cat., Leopold Museum, Vienna, p. 94.
□ The Glass of the Architect, MAK, Vienna, p. 102.
Compare:
□ Examples of this model held in the permanent collection of the MAK (Museum für angewandte Kunst), Vienna, inv. no. GL 3451-2; further examples exhibited in the Schedlmayer Collection, Leopold Museum, Vienna.