Christianne Weber-Stöber – författare

Since 1965, the Association for Goldsmiths’ Art and the German Goldsmiths’ House Hanau have been organising the Silver Triennial International to promote contemporary silversmithing. The 20th competition demonstrates the variety of works at a high level: 121 silversmiths from 21 countries submitted hollow- and flatware or free-formed works. The focus is not only on technical and artistic aspects; a large number of the entries also have a socio-critical and contemporary historical background.An expert jury was again assembled this year: Dirk Allgaier, head of Arnoldsche Art Publishers, Stuttgart; Dr. Claudia Banz, curator for design at the Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin; and JaKyung Shin, silversmith and assistant professor at Seoul National University, Korea, selected 67 impressive silver works.Text in English and German.

The discovery of the Oberstein company Jakob Bengel as a prominent jewellery manufacturer has liberated Oberstein from the stigma of being the “underdog” of the German jewellery industry. Wilhelm Lindemann and Christianne Weber-Stöber document in this current study its independent contribution to the evolution of early German jewellery design between 1910 and 1933 using Bengel as an example. Highlights from the collection of Drs. Margarete and Heribert Händel, hitherto unpublished pieces of Bengel jewellery, and contemporary designs attest to the exceptional level of production as part of the reformist ideas of the Deutscher Werkbund, the German Schools of Art and Crafts, and the Bauhaus. With this book, the industrial monument Historische Uhrketten und Bijouteriewarenfabrik Jakob Bengel, Idar-Oberstein together with the Jakob Bengal Foundation marks the factory’s 150-year anniversary.Text in English and German.

Christian Dell (1893–1974), silversmith, Bauhaus master craftsman, and head of the metal workshop of the Frankfurter Kunstschule [Frankfurt Art School], is one of the lesser-known designers of the 20th century. Yet his diverse oeuvre and his impact on design—from the 1930s to the present—deserves to be reappraised. This publication provides a first comprehensive overview of Dell’s work and career, including his training in Hanau, teaching in Weimar and Frankfurt am Main, and contacts to the lighting industry. One of Dell’s iconic lamp designs is the KAISER idell™, an office lamp which is back in production today. Moreover, he was an inspiration to numerous students, whose works are introduced here in more detail. Conceptual sketches, series products, and exquisite individual objects in a wide range of materials are also presented—for Dell’s early work with new types of plastic would go on to inform consumer tastes for decades to come. An exciting monograph on a significant, visionary, and hitherto unrecognised designer of the 20th century.Text in German.