Important Silversmiths - Ludwig Politzer
19th Century Austrian silver-gilt & enamel ewer, standing on a domed base, the hand painted enamel body supported with an acanthus leaf cornucopia and terminating with a satires head, resting a twist handle mounted with a realistically modeled perched dragon.
Hallmarked Austrian silver (letter "A" for Vienna), year 1880-90, Maker's mark "LP" for Ludwig Politzer.
Reference Number: A5905
Ludwig Politzer was one of the most important silversmiths and jewellers working in Vienna in the second half of the 19th century. Although we don’t know much about his life, we know he was born in 1841 in Szeged (Hungary); from 1866 he was in partnership with Hermann Böhm until about 1870. His artworks were exhibited at the International Exhibitions in Paris in 1878 and 1900 where he received a great popularity. He was appointed Imperial Court Jeweller. In 1907 he died in Vienna.
Antique 19th Century Austrian Rock Crystal and enamelled solid silver-gilt ewer and stand, the rock crystal carved with swirling flutes, mounted with decorative silver gilt and enamel mounts.
REFERENCE NUMBER: A4629
Politzer specialised in enamelled objects of vertu, silverpieces, nefs (silver ship models used as table ornaments) mostly in a Renaissance Revival style, also called Historismus. All of his artworks bare the maker’s mark ‘LP’.
Historismus, or Historicism, developed in the final decades of the 19th century alongside the growth of a national identity in German-speaking Central Europe.
Some of his masterpieces are nowadays displayed in the most important international museums of applied arts, such as the V&A museum in London.