Otto Eckmann German, 1865-1902
c. 1900
20.5h x 11w x 5.5d inches
Further images
Porcelain by Otto Eckmann, Bronze Mount by Otto Schulz.
While there may have been no love lost for his early paintings, Eckmann had an endless fascination for the decorative potential of undulating water. The open spaces created by the metalwork cutouts at the neck and the base of the mount relate to this exploration and the profound influence the Japanese aesthetic played on his work. Prominently marked on either side of the metal mount with his artist’s cypher, these shapes connect to an earlier color woodblock print Eckmann made in 1895 entitled, “Three Swans on Dark Water,” which had catapulted him to artistic renown. Here, Eckmann fully realizes this theme in his preferred media, the Applied Arts. Against the vase, the cutouts lend contrast between the heavy-textured leafy metal mount and the supple, magenta-flecked moss green, purple, and blue glazed porcelain, creating an evocation of water. Eckmann’s Waterlily vase is not only a stunning example of his signature style; Eckmann’s Waterlily vase is a Jugendstil icon.