Kovels Antiques & Collecting: Wiener Werkstatte
By Terry and Kim Kovel
Wiener Werkstatte
When the Arts and Crafts movement thrived first in the British Isles and then in the United States, Vienna, Austria, had the Wiener Werkstatte (Vienna Workshop). Founded in 1903 by designer Josef Hoffmann, painter Koloman Moser and financier Fritz Waerndorfer, the workshop, which lasted until 1932, was a cooperative community of artisans making all kinds of decorative and functional products. Everything from tableware to postcards to furniture to jewelry was made from quality materials with innovative, artistic designs.
Wiener Werkstatte ceramics had modern designs and were often marked for the artist who created them as well as for the workshop. This one is by Erna Kopriva. PHOTO CREDIT: Rachel Davis Fine Arts
Like the modern designers that came later in the 20th century, many Wiener Werkstatte artists worked in multiple media. For example, Erna Kopriva studied architecture with Josef Hoffmann at the School of Arts and Crafts in Vienna, where she later taught printing. However, the ceramics she made at the Wiener Werkstatte, where she worked from about 1919 to 1928, may be her most famous works. Their geometric shapes and vivid colors reflected the workshop's modern sensibilities and fit the art deco style of the time. They are often valuable today. This one sold at Rachel Davis Fine Arts for $3,072, more than twice its high estimate.
Q: I would like to know the value of my old wooden duck toy. There is a mama duck with three ducklings on a string. Mama has a yellow-orange beak and a hat, and the babies have yellow beaks. All their heads turn.
A: You have a Quacky Family toy, which was made by Fisher-Price from about 1940 to 1958. Production was stopped during World War II. From 1940 to 1942, the ducks had rubber bills and were held together with rubber connectors that allowed children to change the order of the ducklings. From 1946 to 1948, the ducks had felt bills and were connected with wooden dowels. In 1948, a version with metal connectors was introduced. Starting in 1949, the ducks had plastic bills. The original retail price for the Quacky Family in 1940 was 50 cents. Today, they sell for about $25 to $50.
TIP: Put ceramic saucers or glass or plastic plant holders under vases of flowers or potted plants. There are inexpensive throwaway plastic dishes that have a rim and are exactly the right size and shape for a plant.
CURRENT PRICES
Textile, bell pull, embroidered, flowers, pink roses, white daisies, scrolling leaves, gold tone trim, tassel, silk, 55 inches, $100.
Sewing, kit, thimble, enameled scene, thread holder, silver case, pink enamel, guilloche waves, hallmarks, Norway, 2 1/2 inches, case, $205.
Advertising, bin, McLaughlin's Coffee, No. 99, dome top, multicolor graphics, coffee cup, leafy branch with berries, red trim, tin, 22 1/2 x 18 inches, $235.
Candy container, glass, boat, swan, gold paint, rabbit, yellow chick, on water, molded, rectangular base, 2 x 4 x 1 inches, $560.
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