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Hinteransicht von Brigitte IV zeigt die Aufstellung auf abfallendem Untergrund auf Burg Kipfenberg. Riemerschmids einfaches Holzhaus hat praktische hölzerne Läden für Privatsphäre und Isolierung.

Auction Talk Germany: The whole house

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
Back view of the Brigitte IV shows its placement on sloping ground at Burg Kipfenberg. Riemerschmid’s simple wooden house has practical wooden shutters for privacy and insulation. Photo courtesy Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH.
Back view of the Brigitte IV shows its placement on sloping ground at Burg Kipfenberg. Riemerschmid’s simple wooden house has practical wooden shutters for privacy and insulation. Photo courtesy Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH.

MUNICH – If you long to live in well-designed Arts and Crafts simplicity, an unusual object has come to market. Quittenbaum in Munich is auctioning an entire house designed in the early 1920s by renowned painter, architect and designer Richard Riemerschmid.

There are only two strings: First, the dismountable house will come disassembled and the buyer will have to move it onto a suitable building lot for reassembly. Secondly, the building lot will have to be in Bavaria because the house is on the Bavarian A List of Historical Landmarks. Quittenbaum estimates that this 1926 example of the Brigitte IV will sell for between 100,000 and 150,000 euros ($127,000 to $190,000).

The house is a fine example of Reform Architecture that appeared in Germany after World War I. Riemerschmid’s designs were offered by catalog and came in a variety of sizes. Customers could choose from many built-in furniture options, such as cabinets, display cases and sitting benches. Nut wood and oak gives the house interior a dark, yet cozy appeal. Riemerschmid also offered moveable furnishings that could be ordered at the same time as the house.

Workers in dirty, overcrowded industrial areas were happy to move into the garden communities designed by Riemerschmid. The houses were simple but pleasant. The commute to work was short. This particular Brigitte IV is a mid-size, two-story example, crafted and assembled by the Munich company Kowalsky & Glasser. Its first location was Jaiserstrasse 33 in Pullach, near Munich.

Renate and Peter Schuck, Jugendstil collectors and current owners of the house, lived out a dream by decorating it with Riemerschmid paintings, furniture, dishes, glasses, table linens and rugs, as well as the work of other period designers. It became a stunning private museum. Brigitte IV has nestled comfortably on the Schuck’s estate, Burg Kipfenberg in the Altmühltal, but now the couple is parting with not only with the house, but its amazing contents.

Richard Riemerschmid’s work spans the gap between ornamental Jugendstil and sturdy British Arts and Crafts. Taking the grace from one and the practicality of the other, he created designs that were lovely, yet able to be produced in larger quantities. The Deutsche Werkstatten für Handwerkskunst, Hellerau (Dresden) and Meissen Porcelain were two of the companies that brought his designs to life.

Scare raw materials in post-World War I Germany made wood Riemerschmidt’s building material of choice. The Brigitte IV offered at Quittenbaum was most likely insulated with a surprising material in its first incarnation – sawdust. The brilliant reuse of this construction by-product kept Riemerschmid’s houses toasty warm. To view all of the objects up for auction Nov. 13, visit www.Quittenbaum.de

 

Upcoming Auctions

 

Nov. 14-15: Auction Team Breker, Cologne – science and technology, office antiques, and toys, including tin toys, dolls, trains and more. www.Breker.com

Nov. 17-23: Vienna Art Week, podium discussions in the Palace Dorotheum, plus auctions of modern art, jewels and watches. www.Dorotheum.com

Nov. 20-22: Auktionshaus Selzer, Rüdesheim am Rhein, antique trains, steam machines, tin toys. http://www.selzer-toy-auction.com

Nov. 26-29: Villa Grisebach, Berlin, autumn auctions with 19th century art, photography, modern art and more. www.Villa-Grisebach.de

Nov. 29: Anticomondo, Cologne, 900 books from 1720 to 1960, mostly picture and children’s books. www.Anticomondo.de

Nov. 29: Dr. Fischer Kunstauktionen, Heilbronn, art and antiques. www.Auctions-FIscher.de

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Back view of the Brigitte IV shows its placement on sloping ground at Burg Kipfenberg. Riemerschmid’s simple wooden house has practical wooden shutters for privacy and insulation. Photo courtesy Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH.
Back view of the Brigitte IV shows its placement on sloping ground at Burg Kipfenberg. Riemerschmid’s simple wooden house has practical wooden shutters for privacy and insulation. Photo courtesy Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH.
A portion of the auction lots set up in a cozy corner inside the Brigitte IV: wicker chairs by Theodore Reimann, Dresden, 1906 (estimate €1200 to €1500 – $1,500 to $1,900 per chair); oak long-case clock by Deutsche Werkstatten, Hellerau, 1908 (€800 to €1,000 – $1,200 to $1,275); open and lidded beer steins by Villeroy & Boch, 1900 (€150 to €300 – $190 to $382 per stein); blue Reinhold Merkelbach Narrow-necked vase, 1903 (€1,400 to €1,800 – $1,785 to $2,295). Photo courtesy Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH.
A portion of the auction lots set up in a cozy corner inside the Brigitte IV: wicker chairs by Theodore Reimann, Dresden, 1906 (estimate €1200 to €1500 – $1,500 to $1,900 per chair); oak long-case clock by Deutsche Werkstatten, Hellerau, 1908 (€800 to €1,000 – $1,200 to $1,275); open and lidded beer steins by Villeroy & Boch, 1900 (€150 to €300 – $190 to $382 per stein); blue Reinhold Merkelbach Narrow-necked vase, 1903 (€1,400 to €1,800 – $1,785 to $2,295). Photo courtesy Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH.
In the dining room a Richard Riemerschmid carpet for the Villa Rittmeister Jännicke, Colmar, 1905 (€3600 to €4500 – $4,590 to $5,700); clever oak corner cabinet by Deutsche Werkstatten, Hellerau, 1911 (€800 to €1,200 – $1,020 to $1,500); and on the wall, one of Riemerschmid’s own landscape paintings, 1932 (€1,500 to €2,000 – $1,900 to $2,550). Photo courtesy Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH.
In the dining room a Richard Riemerschmid carpet for the Villa Rittmeister Jännicke, Colmar, 1905 (€3600 to €4500 – $4,590 to $5,700); clever oak corner cabinet by Deutsche Werkstatten, Hellerau, 1911 (€800 to €1,200 – $1,020 to $1,500); and on the wall, one of Riemerschmid’s own landscape paintings, 1932 (€1,500 to €2,000 – $1,900 to $2,550). Photo courtesy Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH.
Large covered porcelain dish designed by Richard Riemerschmid for StPM Meissen, 1903-05. Estimate €600 to €700 ($765 to $893). Photo courtesy Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH.
Large covered porcelain dish designed by Richard Riemerschmid for StPM Meissen, 1903-05. Estimate €600 to €700 ($765 to $893). Photo courtesy Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH.
Called “Sonntagsreiter” (Sunday Rider), this wooden toy circa 1904 comes with a separate paper that depicts the rider in different positions. Richard Riemerschmid, Dresdener Werkstätten. Estimate €800 to €1,200 – $1,020 to $1,530. Photo courtesy Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH.
Called “Sonntagsreiter” (Sunday Rider), this wooden toy circa 1904 comes with a separate paper that depicts the rider in different positions. Richard Riemerschmid, Dresdener Werkstätten. Estimate €800 to €1,200 – $1,020 to $1,530. Photo courtesy Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH.
The larch wood bed from the main bedroom of the Brigitte IV. Richard Reimerschmid, Dresdener Werkstätten, 1905. The house also has a girl’s bedroom. Photo courtesy Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH.
The larch wood bed from the main bedroom of the Brigitte IV. Richard Reimerschmid, Dresdener Werkstätten, 1905. The house also has a girl’s bedroom. Photo courtesy Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH.
Richard Riemerschmid covered stoneware punch bowl in celadon green and cobalt made by Reinhold Merkelbach, Grenzhausen, 1906. Estimate €600 to 800 – $756 to 1,020. Photo courtesy Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH.
Richard Riemerschmid covered stoneware punch bowl in celadon green and cobalt made by Reinhold Merkelbach, Grenzhausen, 1906. Estimate €600 to 800 – $756 to 1,020. Photo courtesy Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH.