Butter dish

The earliest products manufactured by the Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshops) were strictly geometric in their formal vocabulary, relying upon squares, spheres, cubes and cylindrical forms – rational shapes that demonstrated a shift away from the organic style of the Jugendstil or Art Nouveau style. Here instead we find the Viennese variation known as Secession style. One of the most distinctive motifs associated with the early phase of the Wiener Werkstätte is the over-all square motif or checkerboard pattern (Quadratlstil). The play on open and closed space creates a screen-like surface that both reveals and disguises what is displayed – a sophisticated and modern approach to tableware design. The artists affiliated with the Wiener Werkstätte aimed to create artistic and functional objects for everyday use, and this butter dish is a superb example of this intention.