Collection Wolfers & Petrucci: Hidden Treasures

Philippe Wolfers
Art Nouveau coffee and tea service, ca. 1901–1910
Silver and ivory for the insulators
Dimensions: coffeepot: height 25,4 cm, length 23 cm (from spout to handle)
Marked: on the bottom of each item, maker’s mark three five pointed stars in a triangle and alloy mark for
800/1000
Provenance:
Private collection, Brussels
This service was designed by Philippe Wolfers with the German market in
mind. Unusually abstract in decoration and through a typical vertical design of
the pieces, the set reminds us of Jugendstil designs by Peter Behrens, Richard
Riemerschmid or even Rudolph Rocha. However, it is possible that the Philippe
Wolfers’ design predates these of his German colleagues.
The abstract design of the service is the end of an evolution which started
around 1893. Philippe Wolfers went from an almost realist approach in his first art
nouveau designs towards a more stylised and symmetrical art nouveau between
1900 and 1905. It is difficult to date this set. It is a design that in our opinion
should be dated around 1902–1905, but we lack any concrete evidence to support
this theory.
This model is by any account rare. Apart from a samovar of the same model,
we know of only this service to have come to the market these last years.
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