Multi-disciplined Designer
Dagobert Peche (1887 – 1923) was an Austrian architect, painter, metalworker, glass and ceramics artist and jewellery designer.
Education for Dagobert Peche
He studied engineering and architecture at the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna from 1906 to 1910.
Biography for Dagobert Peche
In 1912, he began designing for the industry, focusing on ceramics and carpets. He joined the Wiener Werkstatte in 1915, eventually becoming co-director between 1917 and 1923; this affected the highly architectural style shown in his lamp designs around 1920, which were more classically adorned than his later, more abstract work.
He designed and oversaw Wiener Werkstatte’s Zurich shop from 1917 until 1919. Peche, along with Hoffmann, was the Werkstatte’s most prominent designer at the time. Peche combined ornamental motifs from the Baroque and Rococo periods to produce an extraordinarily distinctive and original vocabulary. Peche’s metalwork was densely ornamented and lavishly decorated.
He devised wholly new, amusing forms, frequently in simple materials like tole and cardboard; the conditions caused by World War I dictated the use of low-cost raw materials. After the war, he produced utilitarian silver objects and purely decorative silver ornaments, an example of which was the 1920 50th birthday gift presented to Josef Hoffmann by the Wiener Werkstatte; the articulated fruits in the piece represented sculpture, painting, and architecture.
Dagobert Peche – Selection of Works
Peche’s career was cut short by his untimely death at 35. However, his innovative and distinctive designs remain highly regarded and influential in decorative arts and design. His work can be found in museums and private collections worldwide, and he is recognized as one of the key figures in the Viennese design movement of the early 20th century.
Sources
Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing.
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