Jewellery, Objects of Vertu, Silver and Watches

An onyx brooch by Hans Georg Mautner, circa 1930, the rectangular onyx panel with two gold vertical straps to either side, signed ‘H. Mautner Wien’, stamped ‘950’, marked ‘HM’, Austrian assay mark (post 1925) for Vienna, length 38mm. £400-£600

Born in Weigelsdorf, Austria, Hans Georg Mautner (1901 - circa 1972) undertook his apprenticeship in Prague. He then worked for the wholesale jeweller Bethhold Muller in Hanau. In 1925 he established his own workshop and retail premises in Vienna. Mautner became a frequent contributor to the Künstlerhaus, the city's most prominent exhibition venue for applied arts at the time.

In 1933, Mautner was at the height of his Austrian career, having won a silver medal at the Triennale di Milano that same year. His contributions to the Künstlerhaus often focused on sculptural, geometric jewellery. His pieces from the early 1930s typically featured high-contrast materials such as black onyx and 18ct gold, often using rectangular and square motifs popularised by the Wiener Werkstäatte influence. Mautner’s shop window in the Kunstlerhaus in 1933 displayed similar brooches to the example offered for here for sale.


Mautner moved to London in 1938 to flee the war, and set up a workshop in Hatton Garden. During the 1950s and 1960s he produced jewellery for S. J. Rood of Burlington Arcade, Boucheron of Old Bond Street and Garrard & Co. Ltd. of Regent Street
Literature:
For a similar example of this brooch see:
Wingfield, Mary Ann: Modern British Jewellery Designers 1960-1980: A Collector’s Guide, pub. ACC Art Books, page 120.

Light wear, a couple of tiny nibbles to corners of onyx, indistinct. Overall good condition. Gross weight 6gm.