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SILVER CANDLESTICKS

Designer

Ted Muehling

Manufacture

Wiener Silber Manufactur

Circa

2014

Description

Muehling has been designing jewelry and objects inspired by nature since 1976. "I try to restrict my vocabulary of shape by abstracting forms from nature and transforming them with the aim of creating objects that function just as well as they look. My designs trace the invisible shapes that exist between nature and our perception of it." In 1882, Alexander Sturm, a trained gold- and silversmith, founded what is today Wiener Silber Manufactur in Vienna. By the turn of the century, the silversmiths created objects for the intellectual elite that favored the simple lines of the Wiener Werkstatte. After the Second World War, the manufacturer became involved with avant-garde again and partnerships with luminary designers and architects lasted until it closed its doors in 1982. It was the vision of an innovative tradition of service that inspired Georg Stradiot to found the Vienna Silver Manufacture in 2008. Today the company revives masterpieces from their collection of 11,000 drawings dating to 1882, as well as paves new roads in the production of silver with artists such as Erwin Wurm and Zaha Hadid. Wiener Silber Manufactur uses a special alloy that contains 94% by mass of silver (Sterling silver, by comparison, only contains 92.5% of silver). The high value of raw materials ensures that the product value will increase over the years. In addition, the silverware is exceptionally easy to clean, since it is dishwasher-proof and extremely resistant to tarnishing.

Ted Muehling

Ted Muehling was born in New Jersey in 1953. In 1975, he earned a degree in industrial design from the Pratt Institute in New York, where his mentors included designers Gerald Gulotta, Rowena Reed, and William Fogler. Since 1976, Muehling has been designing jewelry and decorative objects.

In 1990, Muehling opened his first shop on the edge of Soho in Manhattan, where he designs and produces multiples as well as one-of-a-kind pieces. Muehling has collaborated on designs with Porzellan-Manufaktur Nymphenburg, E. R. Butler & Co., Steuben Glass, J. & L. Lobmeyr and Wiener Silber Manufactur—the large majority of which are available at Les Ateliers Courbet.

Muehling’s honors include two Coty American Fashion Critics’ Awards in 1977 and in 1982. He was a finalist in the first annual National Design Award competition offered by the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in 1997, and he was the recipient of the Chrysler Design Award in 2000, and the Pratt Institute Alumni Achievement Award in 2012.

Ted Muehling was born in New Jersey in 1953. In 1975, he earned a degree in industrial design from the Pratt Institute in New York, where his mentors included designers Gerald Gulotta, Rowena Reed, and William Fogler. Since 1976, Muehling has been designing jewelry and decorative objects.

In 1990, Muehling opened his first shop on the edge of Soho in Manhattan, where he designs and produces multiples as well as one-of-a-kind pieces. Muehling has collaborated on designs with Porzellan-Manufaktur Nymphenburg, E. R. Butler & Co., Steuben Glass, J. & L. Lobmeyr and Wiener Silber Manufactur—the large majority of which are available at Les Ateliers Courbet.

Muehling’s honors include two Coty American Fashion Critics’ Awards in 1977 and in 1982. He was a finalist in the first annual National Design Award competition offered by the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in 1997, and he was the recipient of the Chrysler Design Award in 2000, and the Pratt Institute Alumni Achievement Award in 2012.