Philippe OBERLE (1877-1950) Lot n° 4

Rare silver bowl on pedestal. Shaft with four hexagonal columns engraved with stylized palmettes surmounted by a circle of ivory decorated with a circular paving of lapis, turquoise and polished glasses. Cylindrical base inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Blackened wood base. Edge of the cup bearing the inscription: "die stadt strassburg i e widmete Herrn Geheimen Kommerzienrat A Wacker dieses Erzeugnis ihrer kunst als Zeichen ihrer Dankbarkeit - entwarfenx ausgeführt v Ph Oberle - Strassburg". (The city of Strasbourg dedicated this product of their art to the commercial council of Mr. A. Wacker as a token of their gratitude - designed and executed by Ph Oberle Strasbourg) German goldsmith and title hallmarks Circa 1912-1918 H : 31,5 cm Diameter : 29 cm (Probably missing the small chain on the cylindrical base). This cup is an extraordinary attempt to synthesize the pictorial research of Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser, Dagobert Peche and Mackintosh in a very personal balance by Philippe Oberlé. JUGENDSTIL STRASBOURG The Strasbourg School of Decorative Arts Before the war of 1870, Strasbourg only had an evening school of drawing for workers in the art industry, set up in 1850. It was not until after the annexation of Alsace-Moselle to the German Empire that the first plans for an art education institution in Strasbourg appeared. An event that accelerated the process was the creation of the Strasbourg Museum of Decorative Arts in 1887. Five years later, the Ecole supérieure des arts décoratifs de Strasbourg was founded. Anton Seder, already known in Germany for his participation in the Art Nouveau movement, was appointed director. The construction of the school was carried out within the framework of the Deutscher Werkbund and involved various trades. For example, Anton Seder designed the ornamentation of the façade, Léon Elchinger created the ceramic decorations and a master glass artist created the stained glass windows for the façade. The construction of this school was part of the emulation that affected all of Europe at the turn of the century after having emerged in Great Britain. The idea was to reconcile technical and artistic education. The aim was to achieve a total art form, accessible to all. This ideal was by no means new at the beginning of the 20th century, as it had already been enunciated by the leaders of the Arts & Crafts movement, William Morris in particular. Philippe Oberlé, one of the school's teachers, clearly expresses this desire: "This hope is based on the diligent collaboration of workshop and school, of practice and theory, which will also increase the appreciation of craftsmanship among the buying public. The school accepts students from the age of 14. The studies last four years and the training is organized as follows: two years are devoted to the study of nature, the third sees the application of the teaching in a manual trade which is concretized by work in workshop in the fourth year. Four specialities are taught at the school: ceramics by Gustav Herborth, carpentry and cabinet making by Karl Rapp, locksmithing and ironwork by Georg Schäfer and finally chasing and goldsmithing by Philippe Oberlé. Philippe OBERLE, a renewal in creation We know the work of the goldsmith's workshop after 1900 when Robert Rudolf took over. He made cups or trophies that he designed in the style of 16th century goldsmiths. Philippe Oberlé replaced him in 1904. Philippe Oberlé (1877-1950) born in Strasbourg. He studied in Pforzheim, Munich, Brussels and Antwerp. From 1904, he became a professor at the School of Applied Arts in Strasbourg, which he left in 1920 for the School of Goldsmiths in Pforzheim. On his arrival, he gave a more modern tone to the work of his students, between French naturalist influences, such as those of Fouquet or Gaillard, and German symbolist tendencies. The Strasbourg Jugendstil is undeniably marked by the floral Art Nouveau stemming from the English Arts & Crafts tradition, and it is certainly nourished by the models of plants cultivated in the school's large garden. The bowl presented here is a perfect example of the production of this goldsmith's workshop, perfectly integrated in the European Art Nouveau, in its ideals and in its iconographic sources. A commission from the city of Strasbourg As the inscription on the bowl specifies, it was a gift from the city of Strasbourg to thank Mr Alexander WACKER (1846-1922) for his contributions to the development of the city.