DOI Heft:
No. 235 (October 1912)
DOI Artikel:Studio-talk
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21158#0094
Studio-Talk
Wamdorfer some years ago has till now never been
reproduced. The design came as an inspiration, a
fitting setting to Maeterlinck’s “ Dead Princess,”
whose story is told in the exquisite friezes designed
and executed by Mr. Mackintosh, the MacNairs,
and Mrs. Mackintosh which adorn the room and
form the chief motive in the decorative scheme.
The composition forms an organic whole, each
part fitting into the rest with the same concord as
do the passages of a grand symphony ; each thought
resolves itself as do the chords in music, till the
orchestration is perfect, the effect of complete
repose filling the soul. The colour-scheme is red,
lavender, and white. Each object in the room has
its due place. The accentuation always comes on
the right note, and each note has been expanded to
its right artistic compass. Mr. and Mrs. Mackintosh
themselves came to Vienna at Mr. Warndorfer’s in-
vitation for the purpose of designing this interior,
and spent six weeks in the city. They were given
unfettered discretion, and thus their imagination was
allowed full scope. Many pilgrimages have been
made to this room, for connoisseurs find real
pleasure and delight in it. A. S. L.
BERLIN.—The German porcelain fac-
tories hesitated a good deal before de-
ciding to break with their traditions and
pursue the new ideas and style inaugu-
rated by Copenhagen. The greater the renown
which their past productions had earned for them,
the more difficult did it seem for them to enter on
a change of technique and form without sinking to
the status of mere imitators; and the northern
factories had already gained such a lead that there
could hardly be any question about imitation. Per-
haps it was not unnatural that the chief supporters
of historic tradition should have hesitated before
making a new departure. The Sevres factory was
a long time before it countenanced the principles
initiated by the Danes, and Meissen did not follow
till even later. In Germany, however, another
factor — of a psychological nature — played its
part. It must be admitted that porcelain has not
in reality assumed the leading role in German
ceramics. The more stable forms of earthenware are
more in harmony with the German temperament,
while porcelain, so delicate and fragile by com-
parison, has never quite fitted in with our mode of
MUSIC-ROOM AT THE VILLA WARNDORFER, VIENNA
72
DESIGNED BY CHARLES MACKINTOSH
Wamdorfer some years ago has till now never been
reproduced. The design came as an inspiration, a
fitting setting to Maeterlinck’s “ Dead Princess,”
whose story is told in the exquisite friezes designed
and executed by Mr. Mackintosh, the MacNairs,
and Mrs. Mackintosh which adorn the room and
form the chief motive in the decorative scheme.
The composition forms an organic whole, each
part fitting into the rest with the same concord as
do the passages of a grand symphony ; each thought
resolves itself as do the chords in music, till the
orchestration is perfect, the effect of complete
repose filling the soul. The colour-scheme is red,
lavender, and white. Each object in the room has
its due place. The accentuation always comes on
the right note, and each note has been expanded to
its right artistic compass. Mr. and Mrs. Mackintosh
themselves came to Vienna at Mr. Warndorfer’s in-
vitation for the purpose of designing this interior,
and spent six weeks in the city. They were given
unfettered discretion, and thus their imagination was
allowed full scope. Many pilgrimages have been
made to this room, for connoisseurs find real
pleasure and delight in it. A. S. L.
BERLIN.—The German porcelain fac-
tories hesitated a good deal before de-
ciding to break with their traditions and
pursue the new ideas and style inaugu-
rated by Copenhagen. The greater the renown
which their past productions had earned for them,
the more difficult did it seem for them to enter on
a change of technique and form without sinking to
the status of mere imitators; and the northern
factories had already gained such a lead that there
could hardly be any question about imitation. Per-
haps it was not unnatural that the chief supporters
of historic tradition should have hesitated before
making a new departure. The Sevres factory was
a long time before it countenanced the principles
initiated by the Danes, and Meissen did not follow
till even later. In Germany, however, another
factor — of a psychological nature — played its
part. It must be admitted that porcelain has not
in reality assumed the leading role in German
ceramics. The more stable forms of earthenware are
more in harmony with the German temperament,
while porcelain, so delicate and fragile by com-
parison, has never quite fitted in with our mode of
MUSIC-ROOM AT THE VILLA WARNDORFER, VIENNA
72
DESIGNED BY CHARLES MACKINTOSH