materia.lise.design : design.magazine

The Wolfers dynasty, masters of silver

In 1979, the then Museum voor Sierkunst (museum for ornamental arts), now called ‘Design museum Gent’, dedicated an important exhibition to the work of Philippe Wolfers. The last major retrospective on the Wolfers dynasty in the Bellerive Museum in Zurich dates back to 1993. Today, more than ten years later, the research on the Wolfers company, originally a silverware producer, has made significant progress. Using the Wolfers archive, Werner Adriaenssens and Raf Steel have been conducting a thorough and critical study with great scientific zeal, and now the time is right to set up another exhibition. The exhibition will provide an overview of the diverse products by the renowned Brussels house from the period between 1850-1858.

The Wolfers firm won acclaim in particular thanks to the artistic accomplishments of Philippe. Accordingly, his work will play a leading role in the exhibition. However, the Wolfers house is much more than that. The Wolfers firm was established by Louis Wolfers in Brussels in 1850. The shop almost exclusively created silverware. Mainly due to the efforts of his three sons, Philippe, Max and Robert and their cousin Albert Wolfers, the business grew to be one of the most important European players in the field of silverware and jewellery production around 1900. The international accomplishments were made possible only thanks to a very well thought-out company structure, in which each of the family members was assigned a well-defined task. Philippe set the artistic course, Max explored the market and maintained business relations, Robert mainly took care of the improvement of production capacity and Albert was responsible for general management for the most part.

Generally, Philippe Wolfers (1858-1929) is considered to be part of the select group of renowned artists such as Victor Horta, Henry van de Velde, Paul Hankar and Gustave Serrurier-Bovy. They were the ones who gave Belgian art nouveau its identity. His work is found in the most important Belgian museums, but the artist is held in high esteem all over the world. Philippe Wolfers is generally known to be the designer of imaginative and unique art nouveau jewellery and objects. However, he would have never been able to truly develop were it not for the company structure, which kept the firm running like a well-oiled machine. The reason his name went down in history is only because he presented himself as the author of remarkable artistic feats, but the behind-the-scenes efforts of Max, Robert and Albert were still of paramount importance.

The common thread throughout the exhibition is the Wolfers firm history, with some important accents such as the interwovenness of Philippe’s work and that of his son, Marcel. The company history is presented starting with its foundation in 1850 up until the Brussels 1958 world fair. Even though Wolfers existed as a firm until 1975, the exhibit composers saw no point in presenting this later part of the company history as well. After all, from 1958 on, the commercial and artistic leadership were passed on to third parties.

Some of the featured aspects

In five years’ time, the Wolfers workshop, founded in 1850, evolved from a one-man business owned by Louis to one of the most important silverware shops in Belgium. The sons were prepared for their later careers within the company.

In 1885, Louis Wolfers makes his son Philippe a partner. Louis Wolfers Père et Fils (I) is born, and the shop develops artistically thanks to Philippe’s efforts. Under Isidore De Rudder’s wing, Philippe becomes the star designer and heads the industrial enterprise. Stylistically, a Wolfers style develops in its own right. Starting from Japanism and neo-rococo, art nouveau is gradually emerging.

As of 1897, the Wolfers house and Philippe Wolfers are international icons. The firm expands dramatically. A new store and new workshops are opened and Wolfers Frères diversifies its product range. The jewellery created by Philippe particularly catches the eye of many, and he is even referred to as the Belgian René Lalique. Their presence at several international exhibitions does not go by unnoticed. In 1907, Philippe stops his jewellery production and devotes himself to sculpture. The firm is going through some rocky times in which turnover is more important than innovation. After the first world war, Philippe Wolfers sets out in search of this innovation, and makes a brilliant comeback to the international art scene in 1925 by participating in the international exhibition for ornamental arts in Paris as part of the legendary Gioconda ensemble. Little by little, Marcel Wolfers takes the front stage. Ever since his childhood, he has been inspired by his father’s quest for innovation. However, he does not immediately enter the company as an artistic worker, but as an independent artist. He develops a career as a sculptor. During the 1920s, he evolves into a fully fledged lacquerwork artist.

Philippe’s death in 1929 leaves a void in the artistic department which is eventually filled by Omer de Waegh. The firm slowly evolves from prudent innovation to classic modernism, which culminates in the centrepiece Les Travaux d’Hercule that was on display at the 1937 Paris world fair. The firm’s swan song was the 1958 prestige piece Ondine, which was a show stopper in the Brussels world fair pavilion.

These stories illustrate how Philippe Wolfers’s personal work and the company’s commercial production were intertwined. Philippe’s
prestigious designs were realised by the firm and exhibited at important art exhibitions. This allowed him to become an esteemed artist. He succeeded in linking his name to the notoriety the firm needed for commercial reasons.
This placed him among the great creative geniuses of Belgian ornamental arts.

Besides major works, which are loaned by the important museums by way of exception, the exhibition has a large number of never before displayed works from a great many private collections.