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
$1,486
H 17.72 in Dm 9.85 in
Monumental Art Nouveau Design Brass Table Lamp or Desk Light Austria 1980s
By Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser
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
$8,315
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
Art Nouveau lamp circa 1910
Located in NANTES, FR
Beautiful Art Nouveau lamp, circa 1910. Brown-veined alabaster shell. The base is bronze with floral decoration. Electric and in perfect condition. Total Height: 52 cm Shell Diamete...
Alabaster, Bronze
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
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
Art Nouveau Huge Floor Lamp, 1910s
Located in Praha, CZ
Big Art Nouveau floor lamp. An eye-catching piece with a beautiful patina and warm ambient light. Wooden stand with good condition and original fabric shade in fair condition with s...
Fabric, Wood
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
$2,080 / set
H 24.02 in Dm 11.03 in
Pair of Dutch Art Nouveau–Art Deco Hand-Painted Faience Table Lamps, 1910s
By Arnhemsche Fayencefabriek, Amitābha Studio
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Pair of Dutch Art Nouveau-Art Deco faience table lamps, Arnhemsche Fayencefabriek, Netherlands, circa 1910–1917. A matched pair from a specific and short-lived moment in Dutch cerami...
Brass
$8,084
H 28.35 in Dm 15.75 in
Danish Art Nouveau Large Table lamp, Black Terracotta w. Cats, L. Hjort, 1910s
By Lauritz Adolph Hjorth
Located in Odense, DK
An exceptional and sculptural Danish Art Nouveau table lamp by L. Hjort, dating from the 1910s. This striking piece is crafted in richly toned black terracotta and features a beautif...
Terracotta