As both a designer and a teacher, the Austrian ceramicist and glassware designer Michael Powolny was an important figure in the development of modernist aesthetics in Vienna at the turn of the 20th century. His romantic sculptural pottery figures embrace the lush, dynamic stylings of Gustav Klimt and other progressive artists, while his functional pieces — such as glass bowls and vases — employ the simple linear and geometric ornamentation that marked the work of Josef Hoffmann and other members of the Wiener Werkstätte community of designers and craftsmen.
Powolny received classical training in ceramics from his father, a potter, and at the Vienna School of Applied Arts, but later joined in the modernizing movement in the Austrian arts at the close of the 19th century. In 1897, Klimt, Hoffman, Koloman Moser and other artists and architects founded the Vienna Secession, a group that fought for freedom of expression against the city’s tradition-bound arts establishment. Powolny’s work reflects the changing times. He used classical figures in his ceramics — female nudes, cherubs — yet would dress them in modern ornament such as garlands of abstract, geometric flowers. Pieces from Powolny’s ceramics company were sold through the Wiener Werkstätte (Viennese Workshops) founded by Hoffmann and Moser, and Hoffman later hired Powolny to create ceramic ornamentation for his architectural masterpiece, the Palais Stoclet in Brussels.
Powolny would go on to design glassware that combines elegant, tapering forms with precise linear decoration. His most influential work may have come as a professor at the School of Applied Arts, where he taught both Lucie Rie, the great Austrian-British modernist ceramicist, and the American potter Viktor Schreckengost, creator of the “Jazz Bowl,” an icon of the Streamline Moderne design. As you will see from the items on offer, Michael Powolny’s works have a double appeal: in their sprightly, endearing forms and as artifacts that document a period of signal change in the history of modern arts and crafts.
'Donauweibchen', Danube Mermaid Box, Michael Powolny, Vienna Ceramics, 1910-1912
By Michael Powolny
Located in Vienna, AT
Oval, straight-sided lidded box on four ball feet, with a slightly domed lid featuring a fully sculpted group of figures: the naked 'Danube Maiden', the legendary Danube mermaid, emb...
Ceramic
Art Nouveau designer Michael Powolny for Loetz Witwe glass bowl around 1910s
By Johann Lötz Witwe, Michael Powolny
Located in Bingen am Rhein, RP
Art Nouveau designer Michael Powolny for Loetz Witwe glass bowl, 1910s The beautiful small glass bowl by Michale Powolny is in good condition. This item is an original from his time...
Glass
Fenton Art Nouveau Iridescent Cut Glass Bowl
By Fenton Art Glass Company 1
Located in Miami, FL
A very good quality American Fenton art glass dish dating from the early 20th century. The moulded glass dish stands raised on a pedestal and is of rounded ...
Art Glass, Cut Glass
$480 / set
H 3.15 in W 9.84 in D 9.84 in
Johann Loetz Witwe Art Nouveau Set of 2 bowls from glassware in iridescent glass
By Loetz Glass
Located in Lège Cap Ferret, FR
2 magnificent bowls from Johann Loetz Witwe glassware in iridescent green glass enhanced with bronze-colored veins Austo-Hungarian work at the begin...
Metal
$1,157Sale Price|20% Off
H 5.28 in Dm 6.89 in
Bohemian Loetz Red Tango Glass Vase w. Black Accents by Michael Powolny
By Loetz Glass, Michael Powolny
Located in Bad Säckingen, DE
This antique Art Nouveau art glass vase by Michael Powolny for Loetz is an impressive and highly sought-after art piece from the early 20th cen...
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass
Michael Powolny Rare Pottery Pair Sparrows Figure c.1907
By Michael Powolny
Located in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire
A delightful and rare Austrian Wiener Keramik pair of pottery sparrows by renowned sculptor and ceramicist Michael Powolny (Austrian, 1871-1954) and dating from around 1907. Michael...
Pottery
Loetz Art Nouveau vase whit Colered Details of Irradiated glass 1900s
By Loetz Glass
Located in Verviers, BE
Loetz Art Nouveau vase whit Colered Details of Irradiated glass 1900s Beautifully decorated whit Irradiated glass Rare to find with original condition The piece is in good conditio...
Art Glass
Iridescent Art Nouveau Glass Snake Vase by Johann Loetz Witwe
By Johann Lötz Witwe
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Model #21008 Note: We highly recommend shipping through 1stDibs for its cost effectiveness, full insurance coverage, and reliable handling. While standard parcel services are an opt...
Art Glass
1900s Art Nouveau Mild Iridescent Green Sea Urchin Vase, Loetz Witwe
By Johann Lötz Witwe
Located in Andernach, DE
Absolutely marvellous antique vase in a very mildly iridescent green, attributed to Loetz Witwe. Bohemia around 1900. This small sea urchin and equally floral shaped vase is somewhat...
Art Glass
Daisy Makeig-Jones Fairyland Wedgwood Lustre Bowl
By Wedgwood Fairyland Lustre, Daisy Makeig-Jones, Wedgwood
Located in Fort Lauderdale, FL
A Wedgwood Fairyland lustre bowl designed by Daisy Makeig-Jones ca. 1925 and decorated with the 'Blue Willow' pattern. The ‘Blue Willow’ pattern is timeless, inspired by 18th-century Chinese blue and white porcelains and appearing on English transferwares since the early 19th century. Thomas Minton is credited with creating the standard pattern as we know it today circa 1780; from there, all the major English potteries, and some American ones, began producing ‘Blue Willow’ transferwares...
Ceramic, Luster, Porcelain
Round Green Ceramic Cabbage Leaf Serving Bowl with Floral Pattern
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
Round green and white cabbage serving dish with floral motif. A lovely way to add a touch of spring to any table! This dish has scalloped edges, with mint green ombre which moves int...
Ceramic
Jugendstil Art Glass Bowl by Johann Lötz Witwe, Austria, 1900
By Johann Lötz Witwe
Located in Bochum, NRW
A vase, Johann Lötz Witwe, Klostermühle, c. 1900 Decoration: Crete chiné (1896/97); green underlaid glass; pre-blown into a multi-piece ribbed mold; ...
Glass
$1,024
H 6.5 in W 8.86 in D 7.68 in
Wilhelm Süß for Karlsruher Majolika Art Nouveau Blue Flower Basket Bowl c. 1910
By Karlsruher Majolika
Located in Landau an der Isar, Bayern
Wonderful Art Nouveau large ceramic handled bowl or basket by German artist/designer Wilhelm Süß for Karlsruhe Majolika (Majolica) circa 1910. He was one of their top designers at th...
Ceramic, Majolica
$4,577 / set
H 7.88 in W 19.69 in D 15.75 in
Danish Modern Group of Glazed Ceramics Bowls by Jeppe Hagedorn-Olsen, 1960s
By Jeppe Hagedorn-Olsen
Located in Odense, DK
Wonderful set of 4 unique pictured earthenware bowls made by Danish artist Jeppe Hagedorn-Olsen in his own studio in the 1960s. These rare pieces have a rectangular shape and are dat...
Earthenware
Sold
H 6.7 in W 12.01 in D 6.11 in
Ceramic Writing Set 'Till Eulenspiegel' by Michael Powolny, Austria, 1919
By Michael Powolny
Located in Vienna, AT
Till Eulenspiegel in a brown-red jester's costume with bells, sitting with outstretched legs on a rectangular flat base plate, an owl between his feet and a low, four-sided inkwell w...
Ceramic
Ceramic Inkwell With Putti by Michael Powolny, Vienna Ceramics, 1910-1912
By Michael Powolny
Located in Vienna, AT
Delicate Art Nouveau ceramic piece: Cylindrical vessel with an openwork relief of running putti, in between colourfully glazed flower bouquets and golden cornucopias with blossoms, t...
Ceramic
Sold
H 6.3 in Dm 11.03 in
Art Nouveau Ceramic Centerpiece With Three Putti by Michael Powolny Vienna, 1919
By Michael Powolny
Located in Vienna, AT
Three standing nude putti with floral decorations and yellow draperies carrying a shallow round bowl. Without base. By Michael Powolny (1871 - 1954) Nowadays, art experts attest Mic...
Ceramic
Michael Powolny Loetz Tango Piped Orange Pedestal Glass Bowl, circa 1914
By Michael Powolny
Located in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire
A stylish Michael Powolny cased tango orange glass pedestal bowl with black piping and stem made by Loetz. The hand blown bowl stands on a rounded pedestal foot with a short 'black' ...
Art Glass, Blown Glass