Dance book

Josef Hoffmann|Wiener Werkstätte

1909 · Gilded copper, leather, paper · Modern and Contemporary Art

In 1909, women attending the chic annual ball organized by the Concordia press club in Vienna received this book as a party favor that they could use to keep track of their partners for each dance (including three types of polka). The covers were designed by Josef Hoffmann and manufactured by the Wiener Werkstätte, the artists’ cooperative that he founded with the aim of bringing beautiful and intelligent craftsmanship to everyday objects. The streamlined, scrolling pattern of bell flowers exemplifies the bold, graphic sensibility that Hoffmann and the Werkstätte pioneered.

Artist

Josef Hoffmann|Wiener Werkstätte

Date

1909

Medium

Gilded copper, leather, paper

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Gift of Rosenberg & Stiebel Inc., 1982