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.
Michael Powolny Ribbed Glass Vase, Loetz Design, Austria, 1918-1919
By Michael Powolny, Loetz Glass
Located in Klosterneuburg, AT
This elegant object of the Loetz glassworks was produced immediately after the First World War, in the years 1918- 1919. Although stylistic as well as technical recourse to past tech...
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass
$1,154Sale 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
Kähler ceramic jar with lid
Located in Kastrup, DK
Decorative small jar in glazed ceramic, executed in warm golden hues with hand-painted decoration in blue and green tones, surrounded by characteristic dark contour lines. The motif...
Ceramic
French Apothecary Jar with Lid
Located in Houston, TX
The jar maintains its original painted label in a beautiful orange and gold patina. While the jar is now empty the label translates from the French word Chiendent to Quackgrass in En...
Blown Glass, Paint
$10,581
H 14.77 in W 9.06 in D 6.89 in
'Spring', Putto With Flowers, by Michael Powolny, Vienna Ceramics, 1910-1912
By Michael Powolny
Located in Vienna, AT
Excellent and rare Art Nouveau ceramic piece from a series of the four seasons: Naked putto in a wide striding position, his blond head tilted to the left and holding a cascade of fl...
Ceramic
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
Michael Powolny VWGK Vienna Candlestick Made, circa 1907
By Michael Powolny
Located in Vienna, AT
Elegant candlestick for holding one candle Modelled by Michael Powolny (1871-1954), circa 1907 Hallmarked: Manufactured by Wiener Keramik and Gmundner Keramik (union Of Vienna Ceramics & Gmunden Ceramics - VWGK / Hallmarked) Material is Ceramics (glossy finish / multicolored painted). Model Number 142 Made circa 1913 Subject: The cream white candlestick is decorated with horizontal lines attached to surface. The Grommet is surrounded/encircled by A Wreath Of Flowers' blossoms. Height: 8.0 cm (= 3.14 inches) Diameter: 8.0 cm (= 3.14 inches) Bibliography: Waltraud Neuwirth, Markenlexikon fu¨r Kunstgewerbe (3), Wiener Keramik / Modelle 1906-13; page 122 Experts of Fine Arts assess Michael Powolny's work nowadays as result of activity of one the most important ceramics...
Ceramic
$10,340
H 14.97 in W 8.27 in D 8.67 in
'Autumn', Putto With Grapes, by Michael Powolny, Vienna Ceramics, 1913-1919
By Michael Powolny
Located in Vienna, AT
Excellent and rare Art Nouveau ceramic piece from a series of the four seasons: Naked putto in a wide striding position, his blond head tilted to the right and holding a cascade of ...
Ceramic
Multi-Color Porcelain O-Jar with Lid
By Erin Turkoglu
Located in Helsinki, FI
O-Jar is a sculptural hand made porcelain vessel. A soft pink colored matte porcelain body is complemented with an oversized ball cap. The inside of the...
Porcelain
vintage stamped stoneware jar with lid
Located in Seattle, WA
vintage stamped stoneware (not confirmed material) jar with lid. Vintage condition as pictured. Listing is for described item only.. Dimensions: 4"W 5"H
Stoneware
