Paul Laszlo Rare Art Deco Enameled Sterling Cigarette Case c.1925

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Paul Laszlo Rare Art Deco Enameled Sterling Cigarette Case c.1925

About the Item

PAUL LÁSZLÓ (1900-1993) USA MARIA ROTT (enamel) Enameled sterling cigarette case c.1925 Hand painted foil backed and colorful fired enamel scene with a figure and a flowering plant all within a red enamel border on sterling Marks: Paul Laszlo (on inside edge, rubbed), RS in a cartouche (Vienna maker’s mark), STERLING Matching enamel dresser set by Paul Laszlo illustrated: “Kunsthandwerk” Band 62, Heft 5, February 1930 Born in Budapest, the architect Paul Laszlo studied in Vienna, Paris and Berlin before setting up an office in Vienna. By 1927, Laszlo had moved to Stuttgart where he quickly made a name for himself across Europe. In 1936, he relocated to Beverly Hills, California, which had become a haven for many artists and designers seeking artistic freedom. There he quietly found work designing modern homes and interiors, often for Hollywood celebrities. Laszlo created textiles, lamps, as well as custom furniture for his modernist homes and corporate interiors. His comfortable, yet elegant designs pay tribute to the modern luxury and easy livability of the early to mid 20th Century interiors of Vienna. This enamel on sterling case really is one of the very best fired enamel examples of its type. It has a wonderful range of beautifully toned and colored enamel with foil backing in some areas which also gives it extra luminosity and metallic glow. It is in perfect condition and the detail and masterful artistic quality of the painting is also extremely fine and exquisitely rendered. It has all the style and characteristics of the accomplished Neue Shachlichkeit (or New Realism / Objectivity) painting style Laszlo would have been familiar with and exposed to either in Berlin or Stuttgart as well as the New Realism style in Vogue in Vienna, where Laszlo also worked in the 1920's. Considering the difficulty in controlling fired enamel, this exceptional Laszlo enameled case is a bargain by comparison of the price per square inch of a comparable painting on canvas such as a Christian Schad or Otto Dix! In fact, paintings are vastly more simple to execute and immediately rendered by comparison to a fired enamel "painting" on sterling like this exceptional case which would require a very lengthy and tedious process to accomplish a work of this caliber. Paul Laszlo left Germany for America in 1936 and established a successful design firm in Beverly Hills, became an American citizen and lived happily in Southern California for the rest of his life.

Creator:
Paul Laszlo (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 4 in (10.16 cm)Width: 3 in (7.62 cm)Depth: 0.38 in (9.66 mm)
Style:
Art Deco (Of the Period)
Place of Origin:
Austria
Period:
Early 20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
1925
Condition:
The enamel is in perfect original condition.
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: 1310119977102

Shop All Paul Laszlo

Paul Laszlo

The suave architect and interior designer Paul Laszlo made his reputation in Hollywood, where his clients included Barbara Stanwyck, Cary Grant and Elizabeth Taylor. He was aligned to no artistic or design movements, relying on his own carefully honed instincts. From the late 1930s to the 1960s, Laszlo’s name was a byword for sumptuous modernity among members of the smart set.

Born in Hungary in 1900, Laszlo learned about quality from his father, a prosperous furniture manufacturer. He studied design in Vienna and had his technical training in Stuttgart, Germany, where, at age 27, he established an upscale design business that gained an international reputation. Nine years later, with the Nazis in power, Laszlo, a Jew, left Germany for the United States and made his way to Los Angeles. There, he established an interior design office in Beverly Hills and was pleased to find that his Stuttgart credentials carried weight.

While he took many commercial assignments for American department stores, custom residential work was Laszlo’s stock in trade. He turned his hand to every element in a room, “down to the last ashtray,” Time magazine once wrote. Like his clients, Laszlo appreciated luxury — not the luxury of rare and precious materials, but the luxury of rich colors and textures, and deep comforts. He had a contemporary élan, exemplified by spaces that were bright, airy, uncluttered and up-to-date. The classic earmarks of Laszlo’s furnishings are generous proportions and, in the case of his Paddle and Plank armchairs, namesake armrests that are flat and wide, the perfect spot to rest a cocktail. His case goods, tables and dining chairs have clean, elegant lines; they are simply formed yet warm, with interesting details such as woven veneer door fronts.

In recent years, Laszlo’s designs have found a new audience among fans of his easygoing modernism. Prices are in the neighborhood of $5,000 for his vintage cabinets, and from $8,000 to upwards of $20,000 for seating pieces, which are generally found in pairs or groups of six or more.

As you will see on 1stDibs, there was a reason that Laszlo’s work was so admired in the mid-20th century: every design contributes to an environment that is comfortable and elegant — at once robust and relaxed.