Footed bowl

Rejecting the purism of the early Wiener Werkstätte, Dagobert Peche brought a new style to the workshop. This so-called "third-style," characterized by exaggerated details that often concealed the function of the object, it was a modernist rococo of sorts. The asymmetry of the sweeping motions of this silver bowl are reminiscent of draped textiles, which is intensified by the curvature of the bowl and its foot that move in opposite directions. Josef Hoffmann, co-founder of the Viennese workshop, called Peche his "new source of inspiration" and named him co-director of the workshop in 1917, only two years into his employment. Peche stayed until his premature death in 1923 at the age of thirty-six. Although Hoffmann’s work became more ornamented, it was Peche that mastered the art of combining exuberant ornamentation and asymmetrical forms with ease and grace in his designs.