A German pewter art nouveau oval plate

Price : $1,395.00

A German pewter art nouveau oval plate of kneeling child observing a snail,  Worn back stamp and later added hanging ring. 27cm wide

About WMF Founded in 1880 by the merger of two existing German companies, the WMF company, their initials standing for the WüRTTEMBERGISCHE METALLWARENFABRIK. Around the year 1900 they were one of the world’s largest producer and exporter of household metalware, mainly in the Art Nouveau / Jugendstil style.

The company’s trademark was an Ostrich and thousands of different items were produced from the teaspoon to enormous table centerpieces.

Growing very fast WMF acquired quite a few further companies such as AK & CIE (Albert Köhler und Cie), Orivit AG from Cologne and the ORION Kunstgewerbliche Metallwarenfabrik.

The company preferred to create its own designs and so the main proportion of the beautiful creations in Art Nouveau style are from their own Art studio.

Many famous artists and designers worked for WMF: Hans Peter, Albert Meyer, Rudolf Meyer, Herman Obrist, Albin Müller and last but not least also Peter Behrens.

The war in 1914 brought WMF the immediate loss of all its export markets.

WMF wares have received numerous awards at exhibitions and fairs globally, and the high prices of the pre-war items, erspecially those in the 1906 catalogue are witness to their universal demand by collectors, especially as the perfect pieces became scarcer.