[Art Nouveau] Bier & Schöll
Jugendstil design: original design from Vienna. "Holz- und Brandmal-Vorlage". An impressive collection of Austrian Art Nouveau plates.
Vienna, Bier & Schöll, ca. 1900. 120 sheets (various sizes, from 48 x 28 cm to 76 x 58 cm), numbered, with unique design, of which 30 in original colouring, the others plain.
The Viennese firm Bier & Schöll specialized in applied art, and was active from the late 1800's until the 1920's. A 1900 advertisement stated Grösstes Specialwarenhaus der Monarchie · für Malerei jeder Art, Brandmalerei-Apparate, Laubsägerei, Photographie, Kerb- und Lederschnitt sowie alle Dilettantenarbeiten · Bier & Schöll, Wien, I., Tegetthoffstrasse Nr. 9. [Largest special department store in the monarchy for painting of all kinds, pyrography apparatus, fretwork, photography, wood cutting and leather cutting as well as all amateur hobbies]. After 1915 the name was changed to Richard Bier. The set consists of 27 leaves of approximately 38.0 x 27.5 cm, of which one originally coloured; and 89 plates of ca. 55.0 x 37.0 cm, of which 27 in fine, original colouring, including several with an additional plain copy; and two very large ones (76.0 x 55.0 cm), in fine hand-colouring - one showing poppies. One plate is from another firm, Clement, Tournier & cie., in Geneva. The illustrator's logo, "P.P.", is stylized in the form of an Art Deco figurine. It's possible that the Geneva firm was the successor of Bier & Schöll. A very attractive set of fine, large, often beautifully coloured plates.