Liqueur cup

This liqueur glass was designed by Viennese artist Koloman Moser (30 March 1868, Vienna – 18 October 1918, Vienna). Moser was admitted to Vienna’s Akademie der bildenden Künste (Academy of Fine Arts) in 1885, where he was taught by the German painter Christian Griepenkerl. From 1892, he continued his studies at the Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Applied Arts) under the instruction of Professor Franz Matsch, and from 1900 until his death in 1918, he himself was a professor of the school.

Koloman Moser was one of the 49 founding members of Wiener Secession, the art movement started in 1897. The group set out to lay the foundations of a new artistic movement that broke with and moved away from the paradigm of historicism and eclecticism. Also known as Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs, the group published an art journal, Ver Sacrum, which was in print until 1903.

In 1903, painter Koloman Moser, architect Josef Hoffmann and a patron of the arts, industrialist Fritz Waendorfer founded the Wiener Werkstätte, an association of artists whose ideal of the Gesamtkunstwerk (total artwork) led to multifarious activities in the applied arts in harmony with the architectural efforts. They considered the interior design an integral part of a building, and their designs for utilitarian objects had an artistic aesthetic. The artists of the Wiener Werkstätte would design complete interiors, with all that was required: furniture, soft furnishings, decorative panelling, metal, ceramic and glass objects, clothes and accessories, jewellery.

Koloman Moser’s series of liqueur glasses was produced by E. Bakalowits & Söhne, a Vienna company. The glass manufactory was founded by Elias Bakalowits in 1845, and the company, which also produced crystal glass chandeliers, grew rapidly, thanks in no small part to high-profile orders from all over Austria-Hungary. In 1892 the firm was named purveyor to the court of Emperor Franz Joseph. In the first decade of the 20th century, E. Bakalowits & Söhne executed many of the designs of Koloman Moser and his students.