Gudrun Baudisch

Wiener Werkstätte Chinese Figures

c. 1927, Austrian
Marked "GB - Made in Austria"
9 inches high (23 cm)

A very charming pair of ceramic Chinese figures wearing basket hats and reading books. Red, black, yellow, and light green glazes. Designed by Gudrun Baudisch for the Wiener Werkstätte, 1926 - 1930. One is fine, the other had a tiny chip that was professionally restored. What is also very special about these two pieces is that they have the original wicker/rattan hats. Most often these are missing if you do find them.

$600. Inquire about this item

Gudrun Baudisch (1907 - 1982) was an Austrian potter and stuccoist. She studied at the Österreichische Bundeslehranstalt für das Baufach und Kunstgewerbe in Graz. In 1926 she became an assistant in the ceramic design section of the Wiener Werkstätte under Josef Hoffmann and from 1930 to 1936 she worked for several ceramic workshops in Vienna. During this time she worked with the architect Clemens Holzmeister and created the stucco ceiling in the Ataturk Palace (1931), in Ankara, Turkey. From 1936 to 1944 Baudisch stayed in Berlin where she made the stucco decoration for the Italian Embassy and also large figural sculptures. In 1940 she married her second husband, businessman Karl Heinz Wittke, who later managed the business side of the Keramik Hallstatt, which Baudisch founded in 1946. While creating her own work in this studio, from 1968 she also made numerous designs for the Vereinigte Wiener und Gmundener Keramik and founded, in connection with them, the Gruppe H. From 1959 to 1966 she created the stucco decoration for the main Festspielhaus (1955–60) in Salzburg, which was designed by Holzmeister. In 1977 she handed the Keramik Hallstatt over to her colleague Ernst Gschwandtner and then worked permanently in Salzburg.
The Grove Dictionary of Art