DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1397#0074
PLATE 17.
CASH-BOX AND ALBUM-COVER,
BY A. KLEIN, VIENNA.
"Y7"IENNA obtains yearly an increasing celebrity in fancy work of the class we have illustrated.
▼ The money-box was about thirteen inches long, and was composed of brass and leather;
when closed, the numerous steel springs with which it was furnished rendered it impregnable
without the key. The album-cover was the property of Baron Sina, the Viennese banker, and
consisted of metal-work, chased and gilt, studded with emeralds, on a velvet ground. Both
were favourable specimens of the style of decoration in favour with the manufacturers of Vienna;
and the ornamental open cut-work of the box was especially deserving of credit.
Mr. Schmitt informs us that " Vienna is nearly the only place in the Austrian empire where
articles in this class are manufactured, partly in some few extensive establishments, partly by a
numerous class of tradesmen. The productions of this industry, but recently established; pass
from the hands of the manufacturers into those of a class of shopkeepers, known under the general
denomination of 'traders in Nuremberg articles.' Case-makers, bookbinders, harness - makers,
turners, cabinet-makers, wood-carvers, and workers in metal, are employed in producing the
endless varieties of fancy articles, sent in all directions from Vienna for inland consumption, and
latterly, also, for export. Fancy leather articles (as porte-monnaies, cigar-cases, &c), wooden
chests of every description, adorned and inlaid with bronze, and carved wooden frames for
photographic visiting-cards, have gained considerable importance. The number employed in these
branches of industry has increased to 5,000, producing every year an average value of nearly four
millions of florins."
Mr. Klein, whose works we have illustrated, is an example of what may be effected by
energy and perseverance. He commenced business in 1846 with a fund of 25 florins. He soon
made himself remarkable at Vienna by his manufacture of " objets de luxe," and received
bronze medals at Leipsic and Munich, a silver medal at Paris in 1855, and a medal in the late
Exhibition. At present he gives occupation to as many as 300 artisans, leather-workers, book-
binders, purse-makers, joiners, workers in bronze and steel, chasers, carvers, engravers, &c, and
has branch establishments in Paris, Berlin, and Milan.
Other noticeable manufacturers of this class were Krebs, whose productions were characterized
by good and tasteful workmanship; Neiber & Breiter, excellent for articles in leather ; and
Theyer, whose boxes, inkstands, &c, composed chiefly of marble inlay on wood, were marked by
solid workmanship and good taste. Nor should we omit Mannstein, whose portable furniture,
all parts of which would take to pieces, obtained a medal. Rodek, and Breul, and Rosenberg,
who also exhibited remarkably cleverly-designed and good articles, were, wo believe, not strictly
manufacturers, but nevertheless, were each awarded a medal by the Jury.
Leaving out of consideration the mining industry of the Alpine and Carpathian districts,
the glass manufacture of Bohemia, the linen manufacture in the valleys of the Giant (Riesen
Gebirge), Sudetes, and Carpathian Mountains, carried on as an additional occupation in connection
with agricultural pursuits, the silk and glass trades of Lombardy and Venice, and cloth-weaving
transplanted from Lausitz to Bohemia at the end of the 17th century, the development of a
comprehensive and organized factory system in the Austrian dominions may be said to date from
the beginning of the present century. But it is from about the year 1830 that the progress in
general manufactures has been most marked and rapid ; and, since the introduction of railroads,
amended tariffs, and freer intercommunication, Austria, which exported in manufactures destined
for immediate use seventy-eight millions of florins' worth in 1852, exported in 1861 to the
amount of one hundred and forty millions of florins; the imports of such manufactures
amounting only to thirty-six millions of florins.
Vienna, situated on the most important river of the country, and with extensive direct
communication to all parts, has naturally become the first city for the staple manufactures of
the empire. Immense consumption of the most varied products, and a brisk sale of its own
manufactures, especially fashionable fabrics and fancy articles, have also tended to make it the
first industrial place of the empire ; more than two-thirds of the value of the Lower Austrian
manufactures falling to the share of Vienna.
CASH-BOX AND ALBUM-COVER,
BY A. KLEIN, VIENNA.
"Y7"IENNA obtains yearly an increasing celebrity in fancy work of the class we have illustrated.
▼ The money-box was about thirteen inches long, and was composed of brass and leather;
when closed, the numerous steel springs with which it was furnished rendered it impregnable
without the key. The album-cover was the property of Baron Sina, the Viennese banker, and
consisted of metal-work, chased and gilt, studded with emeralds, on a velvet ground. Both
were favourable specimens of the style of decoration in favour with the manufacturers of Vienna;
and the ornamental open cut-work of the box was especially deserving of credit.
Mr. Schmitt informs us that " Vienna is nearly the only place in the Austrian empire where
articles in this class are manufactured, partly in some few extensive establishments, partly by a
numerous class of tradesmen. The productions of this industry, but recently established; pass
from the hands of the manufacturers into those of a class of shopkeepers, known under the general
denomination of 'traders in Nuremberg articles.' Case-makers, bookbinders, harness - makers,
turners, cabinet-makers, wood-carvers, and workers in metal, are employed in producing the
endless varieties of fancy articles, sent in all directions from Vienna for inland consumption, and
latterly, also, for export. Fancy leather articles (as porte-monnaies, cigar-cases, &c), wooden
chests of every description, adorned and inlaid with bronze, and carved wooden frames for
photographic visiting-cards, have gained considerable importance. The number employed in these
branches of industry has increased to 5,000, producing every year an average value of nearly four
millions of florins."
Mr. Klein, whose works we have illustrated, is an example of what may be effected by
energy and perseverance. He commenced business in 1846 with a fund of 25 florins. He soon
made himself remarkable at Vienna by his manufacture of " objets de luxe," and received
bronze medals at Leipsic and Munich, a silver medal at Paris in 1855, and a medal in the late
Exhibition. At present he gives occupation to as many as 300 artisans, leather-workers, book-
binders, purse-makers, joiners, workers in bronze and steel, chasers, carvers, engravers, &c, and
has branch establishments in Paris, Berlin, and Milan.
Other noticeable manufacturers of this class were Krebs, whose productions were characterized
by good and tasteful workmanship; Neiber & Breiter, excellent for articles in leather ; and
Theyer, whose boxes, inkstands, &c, composed chiefly of marble inlay on wood, were marked by
solid workmanship and good taste. Nor should we omit Mannstein, whose portable furniture,
all parts of which would take to pieces, obtained a medal. Rodek, and Breul, and Rosenberg,
who also exhibited remarkably cleverly-designed and good articles, were, wo believe, not strictly
manufacturers, but nevertheless, were each awarded a medal by the Jury.
Leaving out of consideration the mining industry of the Alpine and Carpathian districts,
the glass manufacture of Bohemia, the linen manufacture in the valleys of the Giant (Riesen
Gebirge), Sudetes, and Carpathian Mountains, carried on as an additional occupation in connection
with agricultural pursuits, the silk and glass trades of Lombardy and Venice, and cloth-weaving
transplanted from Lausitz to Bohemia at the end of the 17th century, the development of a
comprehensive and organized factory system in the Austrian dominions may be said to date from
the beginning of the present century. But it is from about the year 1830 that the progress in
general manufactures has been most marked and rapid ; and, since the introduction of railroads,
amended tariffs, and freer intercommunication, Austria, which exported in manufactures destined
for immediate use seventy-eight millions of florins' worth in 1852, exported in 1861 to the
amount of one hundred and forty millions of florins; the imports of such manufactures
amounting only to thirty-six millions of florins.
Vienna, situated on the most important river of the country, and with extensive direct
communication to all parts, has naturally become the first city for the staple manufactures of
the empire. Immense consumption of the most varied products, and a brisk sale of its own
manufactures, especially fashionable fabrics and fancy articles, have also tended to make it the
first industrial place of the empire ; more than two-thirds of the value of the Lower Austrian
manufactures falling to the share of Vienna.