Ernst Riegel (1871 - 1939) a German metalsmith

Ernst Riegel, six mocha coffee spoons from the "Myrtle Cutlery" — Ernst Riegel, six mocha coffee spoons from the “Myrtle Cutlery”

Ernst Riegel 1871 – 1939) was a metalsmith from Germany. He was active in Munich, Darmstadt, and Cologne after being born in Münnerstadt.

He worked as an apprentice to silver chaser Otto Pabst in Kempten, Allgau, from 1887 to 1890, and goldsmith Fritz von Miller in Munich from 1895.

He worked from 1900—06 as a silversmith in his workshop in Munich, where he taught at the municipal craft school for goldsmiths.

Covered cup by Ernst Riegel, 1910, silver

In 1907, he entered the Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse-Darmstadt Darmstadt’s artists’ colony. Just two silversmiths (Riegel and Theodor Wende) were among the 23 artists who worked in Darmstadt. Riegel produced several mounts for the Grand Duke’s nephrite and agate bowl array. His various prize cups were decorated with embossed and chased foliate scrolls and flowers, demonstrating his interest in historic silversmithing techniques and ornamentation.

Other works by him were more contemporary, with soldered spiral motifs and semi-precious stones. In 1912, he was appointed as a professor at Cologne’s Stadtische Werkschule. He oversaw the goldsmithing workshop at the Institute for Religious Art in Cologne beginning in 1920.

Sources

Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing.

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