Josef Hoffmann's designs before 1900 incorporated the curvilinear, organic motifs common to the then-fashionable Jugendstil and Art Nouveau styles. With the turn of the century, however, he abruptly abandoned them for a revolutionary new approach based on geometry, of which this tea service is an outstanding example. Its materials are lavish: hand-beaten silver, ebony, and semiprecious stones. Hoffmann, however, has integrated them with forms of uncompromising austerity: straight sides, domed lids, and squared-off handles. The only decoration, except for the inset jewels, is the single thin horizontal line of raised dots near the bottom of each container.
Inspiration:
 |
| Tea service, ca. 1910. Josef Hoffmann (Austrian, 1870–1956) |
 |
| Steel coffee pot by Naum Slutzky |
 |
| Josef Hoffmann tea set, 1903, Hoffmann brooch, 1907, Palais Stoclet, 1911. |
 |
| Steel coffee pot by Josef Hoffmann |
