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Jakob Bengel, Oberstein: From Art Industry to Jewellery Design

Book  /  Arnoldsche   History   Collecting
Published: 08.09.2023
Jakob Bengel, Oberstein: From Art Industry to Jewellery Design.
Wilhelm Lindemann
Editor:
Wilhem Lindemann
Text by:
Christianne Weber-Stober, Wilhelm Lindemann, Frank Frühauf, Peter Wenzel, Malu Dreyer
Edited by:
Arnoldsche Art Publishers
Edited at:
Stuttgart
Edited on:
2023
Technical data:
152 pages 17.1 x 25 cm, 115 ills. Flexibind English / German
ISBN / ISSN:
978-3-89790-695-2
Price: 
from 28 €
Order: 
Arnoldsche Art Publishers
Order: 
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Necklace, 1932. Nickel-plated brass, bolt-ring clasp, Galalith, model pendant 18249. Chain: L. 40 cm.
. Photo: Jurgen Cullmann, Lichblick Fotodesign. .
Necklace, 1932. Nickel-plated brass, bolt-ring clasp, Galalith, model pendant 18249. Chain: L. 40 cm.
Photo: Jurgen Cullmann, Lichblick Fotodesign. 

© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Intro
With Jakob Bengel, Oberstein: From the Art Industry to Jewellery Design, the industrial monument Historische Uhrketten und Bijouteriewarenfabrik Jakob Bengel in Idar-Oberstein, together with the Jakob Bengel Foundation, is marking the factory’s 150-year anniversary and with it presenting hitherto unpublished material. Large-format illustrations present highlights from the collection of Drs Margarete and Heribert Händel as well as previously unseen Bengel jewellery and contemporary design drawings – evidence indeed of the exceptional quality of work produced within the reform ideas of the Deutscher Werkbund, the German art and crafts schools and the Bauhaus.

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The discovery in the early 2000s of the Idar-Oberstein company Jakob Bengel as a prominent German jewellery manufacturer liberated Oberstein from the stigma of being the ‘underdog’ of the jewellery industry in Germany. In establishing the Jakob Bengel Stiftung (JBS), the old factory was given a new lease of life: it became both a monument to itself and a museum. Its inventory helped transform it into a treasure trove of Idar-Oberstein industrial history in the very place that jewellery and metal goods had once been produced.

As a research institution, it set the task of concomitantly reappraising Idar-Oberstein’s manufacturing past. Two publications (now out of print) featured the more than 350 objects comprising the extensive Bengel jewellery collection belonging to Drs Margarete and Heribert Händel. Over the course of the research, influences from French Art Deco were documented and German examples from the Bauhaus milieu discovered.

For the150th anniversary of the factory’s founding, Aurelia Händel-Weber gifted the collection of her parents, who have since passed away, to the Jakob Bengel Stiftung Idar-Oberstein – an occasion for further analysis and this current publication. The initial two catalogues were primarily concerned with providing access to the collection. Today, using Idar-Oberstein as an example, the current publication highlights the reform ideas and ‘new stylistic course’ pursued by the Deutscher Werkbund, founded in 1907, and by its influential network. In it, Wilhelm Lindemann and Christianne Weber-Stöber grant different perspectives on Bengel’s unique contribution to the development of early German jewellery design between 1910 and 1933.
 
Two pairs of ear jewellery, 1930. Chrome-plated brass, Galalith, L. 5.5 cm, 10 g each. 
. Photo: Jurgen Cullmann, Lichtblick Fotodesign..
Two pairs of ear jewellery, 1930. Chrome-plated brass, Galalith, L. 5.5 cm, 10 g each. 
Photo: Jurgen Cullmann, Lichtblick Fotodesign.

© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Jakob Bengel, pattern book VII (1925–1928), page 201, private collection.
. Photo:formkomplex GmbH..
Jakob Bengel, pattern book VII (1925–1928), page 201, private collection.
Photo:formkomplex GmbH.

© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Necklace, 1932. Brass, bolt-ring clasp, metal wire, metal tubes, L. 50 cm, 50 g.
. Photo: Jurgen Cullmann, Lichtblick Fotodesign. .
Necklace, 1932. Brass, bolt-ring clasp, metal wire, metal tubes, L. 50 cm, 50 g.
Photo: Jurgen Cullmann, Lichtblick Fotodesign. 

© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Industrial monument Jakob Bengel, Idar-Oberstein.
. Photo: Jurgen Cullmann, Lichtblick Fotodesign..
Industrial monument Jakob Bengel, Idar-Oberstein.
Photo: Jurgen Cullmann, Lichtblick Fotodesign.

© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.