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.
Large Art Nouveau Desk Lamp by Michael Powolny for Loetz, Austria, 1910s
By Michael Powolny
Located in Saint-Amans-des-Cots, FR
Exceptional Austrian Art Nouveau swiveling desk or table lamp designed by Michael Powolny for Loetz, Bohemia, dating to the 1910s. This highly decorative example combines a sculptura...
Bronze
Austrian Art Nouveau Bronze Lamp
Located in Houston, TX
Lovely period Austrian Art Nouveau bronze table lamp. This beautifully detailed, high quality Austrian bronze lamp has been newly wired and would w...
Bronze
Beautiful Art Nouveau Chandelier Antique Austria Vienna, 1910s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
Petite Art Nouveau chandelier. Functions as is with three E27 / 110 Volt light bulbs. Can take up to 60 Watts each bulb. Beautiful bronze metal chandelier. Found at an estate sale in...
Metal
French 1910s Art Nouveau Brass Table Desk Lamp
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Art Nouveau Brass table desk lamp with brass shade and wooden base. ca. 1920 Natural aged with small cracks in edge shade 2,5 meter black cotton flex with plug and switch in bulb h...
Brass
$8,018
H 39.38 in W 23.63 in D 15.75 in
Monumental Art Nouveau table lamp by Paul Aichele, goddess Athena, Germany 1910s
Located in Forserum, SE
A large and highly impressive Art Nouveau table or floor lamp by the German sculptor Paul Aichele (1859–1920), produced in the 1910s. Crafted in finely cast bronze, the piece is cent...
Bronze
Early 20th Century Antique Brass Art Nouveau Desk Table Lamp, c.1910
Located in London, GB
A wonderful early 20th century brass table lamp. c.1910. Thought to have begun life as a candlestick later adapted for electric use, it showcases the refined quality of early 20th‑c...
Brass
$1,431
H 17.72 in Dm 9.85 in
Monumental Art Nouveau Design Brass Table Lamp or Desk Light Austria 1980s
By Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann
Located in München, BY
Monumental Art Nouveau design table lamp. Manufactured in Austria. This is probably a production from 1980s. This sculptural table lamp is executed in brass and opaline glass. It co...
Brass
Beautiful Figural Bronze Art Nouveau Chandelier Antique Austria Vienna, 1910s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
Beautiful figural Art Nouveau chandelier. Functions as is with seven E27 / 110 Volt light bulbs on the arms and . Can take up to 60 Watts each bulb. Beautiful bronze metal chandelier...
Metal
Austrian Art Nouveau table lamp
Located in Purkersdorf, AT
A highly decorative Art Nouveau table lamp made of brass and bronze. Likely manufactured around 1950 or earlier. Beautiful, aged patina. One E27 socket.
Brass, Bronze
Art Nouveau Desk Lamp
Located in NANTES, FR
Desk lamp in gilded spelter circa 1910. Tulip tilt adjustment possible. Tulip in opalescent glass. Electrified, B22 socket. in perfect condition. Height: 34 cm Width: 25 cm Depth: 1...
Spelter
$1,225
H 14.25 in W 13 in D 5.25 in
Antique French Art Nouveau Glass Iron Table Desk Lamp Muller Freres 1910
By G.V. de Croismarre, Muller Frères
Located in Portland, OR
A very good antique French Art Nouveau Glass & iron desk table lamp, by Muller Freres, circa 1910. This is a very elegant "Pate de Verre" lamp made and designed by Muller Freres and ...
Iron
Tall Danish Brass Table Lamp, 1910s.
Located in Asaa, DK
Tall Danish Brass Table Lamp, 1910s. Charming tall table lamp, or as shown in photos a low floor lamp. Made of pressed brass parts stacked upon each other. Base in heavy cast iron. ...
Brass
$2,061 / set
H 12.6 in W 4.73 in D 11.03 in
Set of Two Decorative Art Nouveau Bronze Cobra Table Lamps 1910s
Located in München, BY
Set of two rare and highly decorative Art Nouveau bronze cobra table lamps. Made around 1910s / 1920s in France. Executed in brass, bronze and glass, each table lamps come with 1 x ...
Brass, Bronze