Emil IWNICKI

Between 1941 and ’43, the MAK bought from the Dorotheum auction house a number of silver art objects, including two candelabra. The only indication of their origin was a number on the invoice. In the Austrian State Archives, there is a card file in which a large section of the so-called § 14 deliveries are registered. These refer to objects of precious metal, pearls, and jewels which people persecuted as Jews by the Nazi regime were forced to sell to state purchasing agencies for ludicrous prices. In September 2007, a joint project for the digitization of this card file was completed by the Dorotheum and the Holocaust Victims’ Information and Support Center of the Vienna Jewish Community. Subsequently, the invoice number made it possible to identify Emil Iwnicki from Vienna as seller of the candelabra.

On 19 March 2010, the Art Restitution Advisory Board recommended the restitution of the two candelabra to the heirs of Emil Iwnicki.

The restitution took place on 23 January 2014.

Two candelabra

silver, Praha, 1804 / restitution under way

Emil IWNICKI

PROVENANCE RESEARCH AND RESTITUTION AT THE MAK