Pitcher c. 1930

Franz Hagenauer made this pitcher sometime in the 20th century with brass. It’s like he took a line for a walk! It’s all about the line: long and slender with a precise angle for the spout and an elegant curve for the handle. I wonder what Hagenauer was thinking about while he was soldering these pieces together. Was he inspired by the architecture, like the Bauhaus designs that were around at the time? Or maybe he was inspired by nature: the delicate curve of a flower stem, the sharp angle of a bird's beak. It is a practical object – a pitcher to pour liquid – but transformed into a striking design statement. These designers are in conversation with each other; they all had something to say! And just as paintings can surprise us and spark new ideas, even something as simple as a brass pitcher can shift our perspective.