• Today at the MAK
  • Contact
  • Follow us
  • Blog
  • Press
  • Friends / Support
  • Venues at the MAK
  • Shop
  • Library
  • De
  • Program
  • THE MAK
  • VISIT
  • ART EDUCATION
  • COLLECTION
    • MAK COLLECTION
    • PERMANENT COLLECTION
    • MAK Collection Online
    • THEMES
    • PUBLICATIONS
    • IMAGING SERVICES
    • COLLABORATIONS
    • RESEARCH
  • MAK Design Lab
  • MAK COLLECTION
  • PERMANENT COLLECTION
  • MAK Collection Online
  • THEMES
  • PUBLICATIONS
  • IMAGING SERVICES
  • COLLABORATIONS
  • RESEARCH
Jeremias I. Wildt: Jug and Basin

Jeremias I. Wildt: Jug and Basin

Augsburg, 1595–1600
Silver, gilded KHM 437
more »
Nicolò Rugina Greco da Corfù: Plate

Nicolò Rugina Greco da Corfù: Plate

Mediterranean region, 1550
Signed: “Nicolo Rugina Greco da Corfu” Brass, inlaid with silver Go 81 / 1868
more »
Chalice

Chalice

German-speaking area, 1497
Silver, gilded Go 359 / 1877
more »
Giovanni Battista Carron: Coffee Pot

Giovanni Battista Carron: Coffee Pot

Turin, 3rd quarter 18th c.
Silver, wood Go 986 / 1895
more »
Josef Hoffmann: Lidded Goblet

Josef Hoffmann: Lidded Goblet

Vienna, 1902
Manufacture: Würbel & Czokally Silver, gilded inside, lapis lazuli Go 2104 / 1989
more »
Melchior I. Gelb: Table Fountain

Melchior I. Gelb: Table Fountain

Augsburg 1638–1641
Silver, partly gilded KHM 442
more »
Giovan Battista Boucheron: Lidded Turreen witn Saucer

Giovan Battista Boucheron: Lidded Turreen witn Saucer

Turin, 1763–1766
Manufacture: Giovan Battista Boucheron, Bartolomeo Pagliani, Carlo (chaser), Carlo Tamiatti (engraver) Silver, gilded KHM 447
more »
Candelabra

Candelabra

Jablonec nad Nisou (today Czech Republik; German: Gablonz), before 1905
Design and Manufacture: Fachschule [professional school] Gablonz Bronze W.I. 454 / 1905
more »
LION JUG

LION JUG

Magdeburg, 2nd half 12th c.
Bronze KHM 561
more »

Jeremias I. Wildt: Jug and Basin

Augsburg, 1595–1600

Silver, gilded KHM 437

As long as the custom was to eat with the fingers, jugs and basins were used to clean one’s hands at the table. Later, after their original function had gone out of date, elaborate jugs and basins were not melted down, but frequently kept in use as baptismal vessels.
close ^

Metal Study Collection

Curator: Elisabeth Schmuttermeier

Goldsmiths' work from the 16th to the 19th century forms the central focus of the metal study collection. Secular utensils made of silver, often also gilded, could be used according to function as pouring or drinking vessels, dishes, plates or platters, and centerpieces. Frequently, large and elaborate pieces of gold work acted as “prestige objects” on display buffets and, at the same time, as a capital reserve. The history of the objects is closely linked to the development of the eating and drinking habits of the wealthy and their desire for prestigious representation. A change in table culture also brought about a change in tableware.

Some of the sudden transitions in the development of tableware can now be documented only through pictorial representations, for expert opinion maintains that only about 2–4% of the total amount of earlier goldsmiths' work has survived to the present day. One reason is that constant warfare used up the monetary reserves of rulers, princes, and cities over the centuries, thus leading to a radical exhaustion of the precious metal artefacts that also served as financial assets. Another is the change in taste and eating and drinking customs, which made many of the objects seem functionally inadequate and ineffective. Vessels made of precious metals were often melted down, the money invested elsewhere.

The goldsmiths' most important commissions in the Middle Ages came from the Church. Their art was treated as equal to other art forms—architecture, painting, and sculpture. During the transition from Romanesque to Gothic the goldsmiths left their monastery and court work-shops and moved to the cities. They now gained commissions, in addition, from the middle classes and craft organizations, such as fraternities and trade guilds. Guild cups or jugs, welcome-cups for artisans as well as for important guests, and presents for legations and envoys  were all now part of the goldsmith's work. Cutlery, drinking cups, beakers, tankards, jugs, and flagons in manageable sizes were intended for actual use. In the 17th century, new beverages, such as tea, coffee, and hot chocolate became popular. Their consumption called for new types of vessels, whose models were to be found in the beverages' countries of origin.

Candlesticks were amongst the most important utensils, having supported the most refined source of light for hundreds of years. Sacral and secular types of candlestick were not differentiated. The majority of church candelabra served secular purposes before they went into the ownership of the Church. It is solely the size of candlesticks that allows any conclusion to be drawn about their function: whether they were used to light rooms and tables, whether they were night lights, or whether they illuminated sanctuaries. Like other gold and metalwork, candlesticks were also subject to the criteria of fashion.

As in other museums, the collections of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts are subject to certain limitations. Viewed realistically, artistic and art-historical completeness can never be attained. For this reason additional galvanized copies of originals, not held by the MAK, have been positioned amongst the genuine vessels in order to demonstrate utensil typology. Artefacts made of other materials and cultural spheres which served the European forms as models or were influenced by them, are intended to clarify the cultural-historical development even further. / Elisabeth Schmuttermeier

Registration

Additional information
Ticket amount has to be entered.
* mandatory field
Registration successfull
You will receive an email with your registration data
Registration failed
Available tickets adults:
Available tickets children:
SHARE:

Related

Collection

MAK Collection Online

more »

MAK Collection

Metal Collection

Curator: Elisabeth Schmuttermeier
The holdings of the Metal Collection comprises objects from Europe and North America, dating from the fourteenth century to the present. From the very beginning, there existed a policy of acquiring contemporary works for the collection as well as historical objects. The collection covers diverse areas of the applied arts including small-scale sculpture, cutlery, clocks, jewellery, goldsmith’s art, lamps, astronomy devices and electro-plated reproductions.
more »

MAK Collection

Wiener Werkstätte Archive

Curator: Elisabeth Schmuttermeier
The Wiener Werkstätte (WW, 1903–1932) left a lasting mark on the history of product development and even today its output continues to be a significant influence for architects and designers. Apart from numerous objects from WW-production, since 1955 the MAK holds its archive that provides illustration of the production process of the products made in the Werkstätte, and also clarifies their identification and specifications.
more »
Newsletter Registration
FOLLOW US:
  • Facebook
  • Google +
  • Flickr
  • Pinterest
  • Vimeo
  • Youtube
  • Twitter
  • RSS Feed

HOME

SEARCH

IMPRINT


VISITORS’ INFORMATION

Opening hours
Tickets
How to get here / map
Barrier free access
Contact
MAK Design Shop
Restaurant
 

EXHIBITIONS

Current
Preview
Past

EVENTS

Today at the MAK
all Events
MAK ON TOUR

Videochannel
 

THE MAK AT A GLANCE

Mission Statement
History
Collection
MAK DESIGN LAB
MAK Schindler Scholarship
Cooperations
Team

MAK SITES

MAK
MAK Tower
Geymüllerschlössel
MAK Center L.A.
Josef Hoffmann Museum, Brtnice
 

RESEARCH

Research Projects
Provenance Research
MAK Library and Works on Paper Collection
Collection online
Publications
Restoration Department

ART EDUCATION

Guided Tours
MINI MAK
Program for Schools
Library and Reading Room
 

SERVICES

Rentals
Press
Imaging Services / Photo Archive
Restoration
Art expertise

MAK ART SOCIETY

Annual Ticket
Sponsoring
Newsletter
MAKblog
MAK Vienna

Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art
Stubenring 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria

Information during opening hours:
+43 1 711 36-248

E-mail:
E-mail contacts: MAK Team