Vintage Vase in Bronze by Julius Theodor Kalmar, 1920s

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Item description:
fabulous small bronze vase with brown chemical enamel, adorned with a garland of flowers worked in bas-relief, in … Read more Item description:
fabulous small bronze vase with brown chemical enamel, adorned with a garland of flowers worked in bas-relief, in mercury-gilded bronze, separated from the vase and applied by hand in a spiral pattern. We are therefore talking about two separate castings joined together, signed on one side of the base by the artist "j. Kalmar," (julius theodor kalmar), dating back to the early decades of the 20th century. This artist is best known for creating highly distinctive designer lamps, known and appreciated all over the world, such as the famous "k200" table lamp. This vase certainly belongs to his early work, before he began to specialize in the field of lighting, a vase dating from around 1920 made in full art nouveau style.

information about the artist and/or manufacturer:
austrian designer and entrepreneur julius theodor (j.t.) kalmar (1884–1969) was born in vienna in 1884. The son of julius august kalmar, founder of the eponymous company specializing in chandeliers and other cast bronze objects, kalmar gained extensive design experience during his formative years. Kalmar attended the birmingham school of art and the university of applied arts in vienna under the viennese secession architect josef hoffmann (1870-1956). Kalmar joined his father's company in 1906, eventually taking over in 1913. As a strong supporter of the arts & crafts movement, kalmar steered the company away from the eclecticism of the late 19th century. Kalmar's design aesthetic was characterized by an integration of form and function and a blend of classical tradition and forward-thinking innovation.
in the mid-1920s, his designs dominated the influential avant-garde furniture store haus & garten, founded by renowned architects josef frank (1885-1967) and oskar wlach (1881-1963). In the 1930s, kalmar began collaborating with the austrian werkbund, an association founded by architects, artists, craftsmen, and manufacturers committed to the principles of modernist design. Using traditional materials such as glass, bronze, and brass, these designs lacked ornamentation, favoring instead a purist aesthetic. Throughout his career, kalmar designed lighting fixtures for many famous architects, including josef frank and oskar wlach, oskar strnad, clemens holzmeister, oswald haerdtl, carl appel, erich boltenstern, and ernst plischke, as well as for important institutions such as the vienna opera house, burg theater, and vienna stock exchange. In the last decade of his life, kalmar developed a series of very popular lighting collections, including tulipan (ca. 1960), ice glass (1960s), and atomic (1969). Kalmar died in 1968, but the company continued under the direction of his son-in-law, rudols calice.


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