Koloman Mosar's Cabinet (1905) smashes estimate by 75%

Koloman Mosar's Cabinet (1905) was the lead lot of Christie's sale of the Polo collection in London.

The lot realised £167,000 ($233,767) in the February 24 auction, beating its £95,000 ($132,981) estimate by 75.7%.

Koloman Mosar cabinet
Koloman Mosar was a founding member of Austria's Wiener Werkstatte

German steel magnate Karl Wittgenstein commissioned Mosar and his colleague Josef Hoffman to furnish his daughter's new apartment in Berlin.

The auction house comments: "All works for the home were completed by April of 1905.

"Single door cupboards with silver inlay were designed for the bedroom of Jerome and Margaret Stonborough, as well as the guest room.

"Additionally, this model cabinet was incorporated in the scheme for the Purkersdorf Sanatorium, but in these examples the cabinet contained a variation on the silver panel motif as well as ball feet with integrated castors.

"The form is wonderfully modern in design and precise in construction."

Mosar was a founding member of the Austrian art and crafts collective the Wiener Werkstatte, which operated from a three storey building in central Vienna between 1903 and 1932.

Many of the artisans who worked there, including co-founder Josef Hoffman, were also involved in the German Bauhaus movement.

A bookcase made by Hector Guimard circa 1900 also sold well, realising £125,000 ($174,975) - an increase of 38.8% on a £90,000 ($125,982) estimate.

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