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Collections

Peter Behrens
Cutlery, for the Wertheim Department Store, Berlincirca 1901-1902

Not on view
Five-piece silver-toned flatware set with geometric handles featuring a grid-textured surface and concentric square motif at the base, arranged in a fan on a gray background
Silver table knife with a smooth tapered blade and a flat handle decorated with incised geometric border lines and a rectangular cartouche near the bolster.
Silver four-tined dinner fork with a tapering handle decorated with incised geometric patterns of concentric squares and rows of small oval forms near the base.
Silver spoon with an oval bowl and flat tapering handle, decorated at the lower end with engraved concentric square and dot geometric patterns.
Silver cocktail fork with three tines, featuring a tapered handle decorated with incised geometric patterns including nested squares and a repeating oval motif with grid detailing.
Silver fish knife with a tapered handle decorated with incised geometric patterns of nested squares and oval forms, and a broad asymmetrical blade with a scalloped spine.

Peter Behrens, Silberwarenfabrik M.J. Rückert, Rückert, M.J., Cutlery, for the Wertheim Department Store, Berlin, circa 1901-1902, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gift of Max Palevsky, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA

Designed by
Peter Behrens
Made by
Silberwarenfabrik M.J. Rückert
Made by
Rückert, M.J.
Title
Cutlery, for the Wertheim Department Store, Berlin
Place Made
Germany
Date Made
circa 1901-1902
Medium
Silver, stainless steel, and gilded silver
Dimensions
a) Dinner knife length: 9 3/4 in. (24.77 cm); b) Dinner fork length: 8 5/8 in. (21.91 cm); c) Dinner spoon length: 8 3/4 in. (22.23 cm); d) Fish fork length: 7 7/8 in. (20 cm); e) Fish knife length: 8 1/8 in. (20.64 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Max Palevsky
Accession Number
M.2002.108.4a-e
Classification
Furnishings
Collecting Area
Decorative Arts and Design
Selected Bibliography
  • Kaplan, Wendy; contributions by Crawford, Alan; Joppien, Rüdiger; Kinchin, Juliet; Ogata, Amy F.; Stavenow-Hidemark, Elisabet; Witt-Dörring, Christian. The Arts & Crafts Movement in Europe & America. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2004.
  • Bradbury, Dominic. Essential Modernism: Design Between the World Wars. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018.