Werkstätte Hagenauer Wien, Karl Hagenauer

Werkstätte Hagenauer Wien was a Viennese metal workshop founded by Carl Hagenauer in 1898. Under Karl and Franz Hagenauer it became internationally known for modernist sculptures and functional objects in brass, copper, wood and nickel-plated metal. Its designs range from stylized animals and African-inspired figures to bowls, bookends, mirrors and table accessories, typically marked with the workshop’s wHw monogram.

Austrian, 1898-1956 Karl Hagenauer was an important and popular figure in the decorative arts in Vienna in the decades bracketing the Second World War. While primarily a maker of sculptural decorative pieces, Hagenauer — in the same spirit as his peer Carl Auböck — created a wide array of household objects, from barware to office accessories, all designed with wit and a sleek modernist aesthetic. Hagenauer’s father was a trained metalsmith who founded a bronzewares manufactory that produced decorative metalwork and housewares in both traditional and the then-novel Art Nouveau styles and cast small sculptures based on Old Masters paintings.