From the estate of Karl Ernst Osthaus: Museale lid box by Josef Hoffmann Silver. On flat ground round, little breathed body with slightly off shoulder. The wall with weak martelé between four vertical cannelized bands. The arched stud cover with a knob of two cross semi-circle discs; a muffled coral as a handle. Brands: Wiener Dianakopfpunze für Feinhalt 900, 1872 - 1922, Rosenmarke und Signet WW of the Wiener Werkstätte, MZ Josef Hoffmann, monogram JW of the goldsmith Josef Wagner. H 13,5; Diameter 9.8 cm, weight 332 g. Vienna, Josef Hoffmann for the Wiener Werkstätte, 1905. Karl Ernst Osthaus was a great admirer of the Wiener Werkstätte and its co-founder Josef Hoffmann. As early as 1906, the Folkwang was the first German museum to present works by Hoffmann and Koloman Moser in a highly acclaimed exhibition. Another followed in 1913 with arts and crafts and textiles. The most "luxurious" work of art by Josef Hoffmann and the Wiener Werkstätte, the Palais Stoclet in Brussels, built in 1905 - 1911, valued Osthaus so much that he fought a bitter battle against the German authorities in the First World War, but in vain, in the end, in order to preserve its gold-plated copper roof from melting. A Hagener newspaper discussion, which is most likely from Osthaus itself, gives information about his assessment of the arts and crafts industry: "The principles that apply in the Wiener Werkstätte are, of course, the same principles that have given new impetus to the arts industry everywhere. The overburdened and tasteless luxury goods are opposed to pure forms of balanced relations, to the licentious machine production dignified and animated manual work (...). (Der Westdeutsche Impulse, op. cit., p. 83 et seq.). The singular can with its clear formal language is probably one of the earliest works of Josef Hoffmann in a private collection. Provenance: Karl Ernst Osthaus Collection, Hagen; Legacy to his niece Lisa Osthaus; German art trade; German private collection. Exhibitions: Folkwang Museum Essen and Deutsches Museum für Kunst im Handel und Gewerbe Hagen: November and December 1906: 'Kunstgewerbe der Wiener Werkstätten'. Again in both museums in February 1913: 'Clothes and arts and crafts of the Viennese workshops'. Literature: Pictured in German Art and Decoration, Vol. 17, Darmstadt 1905/1906, p. 174, and in Kat. The West German Impuls 1900 - 1914, Die Folkwang-Idee des Karl Ernst Osthaus, Essen 1984, p. 84, Fig. 51; there listed as property of Lisa Osthaus.