Tea Service

The tea service which consists of a samovar, a teapot, a cream jug, and a sugar bowl belongs to the earliest objects made in the Wiener Werkstätte. These pieces of work are characterized by the geometrical contours of the objects. Cubes and squares are essential artistic elements which are a feature of Hoffmann’s style in the early beginnings. Only very few decorations were applied. Frequently, the hammer blows from the craft technique used constituted the only ornament of the austere objects. Colorful cabochon stones, however, were frequently used to break up the block-like shapes. “AB”, the monogram of the owner, was applied to the wall of the items with silver wire.