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.
Stein Collectors International
