"Lidded Urn with Geometric Motifs, " Proto-Art Deco Piece, Margold in Gold, Black

Brilliantly glazed in tones of cobalt, gold, black and white, and decorated with an elaborate geometric pattern overlaid with undulating, organic Art Nouveau motifs, this domed porcelain urn was made by the Fraureuth works in Germany, and reportedly designed by Austrian architect Emanuel Josef Margold. Fraureuth was founded in 1866, and for almost a century produced some of Germany's finest porcelains, including some in the modern, bold style espoused by the German and Vienna Secessionist movements. Margold was born in Austria, studied in Königsberg and Mainz, and later became an assistant to Josef Hoffmann and an employee of the Wiener Werkstätte. In 1907, publisher Alexander Koch in Darmstadt became aware of Margold and published his designs in various magazines. Within a few years, Margold moved to Darmstadt to join the art colony there, and became a prolific designer of jewelry...

Striking in its originality and abstraction, this high-style Art Deco lidded porcelain box is decorated with a series of foliate and abstract motifs, executed in silver glaze, that h...