A Jugendstil Stein Designed by Hans Christensen

By Walt Vogdes

Hans Christiansen (1866-1945) was a German painter and illustrator and a main contributor to the Jugendstil art nouveau movement. He trained in the Munich School of Applied Arts as well as the Academie Julian in Paris. In 1899 he was the first artist asked to join the Darmstadt Kunstlerkolonie by Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse. There he worked alongside Joseph Olbrich and Peter Behrens, among other leading designers of the day. He designed furniture, ceramics, tapestries, stained glass and posters. In 1911 he took a post as a professor at the School of Applied Arts in Wiesbaden.

A decorative stylized rose outline motif, employed in both ceramics and glass decorations, became the artist's trade mark. This stein is attributed to Christiansen based primarily on the rose form appearing on the upper body.

This stein was made by Marzi & Remy ca. 1910 (Westerwälder Steinzeug des Jugendstils, Jurgen Schimanski). The base contains the incised model number 2008.