A rare brooch by Patriz Huber for Theodor Fahrner in silver set with gilt highlights, the centre inset with a sculptural image of a woman, moon and a bird  in flight. The brooch is fully marked for Theodor Fahrner and 900 silver.  The pin also carries an Austrian import mark.

The central insert appears in another Fahrner pendant in the Pforzheim Museum (see Theodor Fahrner Jewelry, page 131, item 1.110) where the insert is attributed to Max Gradi’s or Muller-Salems work groups.

The design of this brooch was published in the Dekorativ Kunst, Vol 8, September 1901 – see images.  The piece depicted in that photo lacks a central stone or medallion and, based on the uneven shape and position of the cut outs I believe the brooch pictured may well be this exact brooch prior to the fitting of the central medallion.

A similar example is published in Theodor Fahrner Jewelry, page 102, figs 1.15, 1.55. Fig 1.52 shows a similar Gradl, Huber collaboration. See images.

Patriz Huber trained at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Mainz and then at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Munich. He was a member of the Darmstadt artists’ colony from 1899-1902, when he spent a brief period working with van de Velde in Berlin and then as a designer for the leading German jeweller, Theodor Fahrner. He died young  through suicide over an unhappy love affair in 1902. He is highly regarded for his innovative and modernist interior designs, furniture and jewellery.

Price: Sold

Maker: Theodor Fahrner

Designer: Patriz Huber and Max Gradl (presumed)

Date : c 1901

Marks: TF. Depose, 900

Material: Silver, gilt

Condition: Excellent

Size: 5 cm wide, 3.5cm drop

Weight : NA