Werkstätte Hagenauer Wien

Werkstätte Hagenauer Wien - (wHw) - was a family business in Vienna that produced fine, handcrafted objects for decoration and use over its nearly ninety-year history.

His stylized animals and whimsical creatures (reminiscent of Wiener Werkstätte designer Dagobert Peche) handcrafted in brass had broad appeal in domestic and American markets.

[6] Some were useful, such as mirrors, cigar cutters, ashtrays,[7] cigarette stubbers - many in the form of athletes or animals, candlesticks, corkscrews, bookends, and lamp bases.

[13] Karl Hagenauer's work found an avid American market partly through the efforts of New York gallery owner Rena Rosenthal, who featured the Josephine Baker sculpture in a 1935 window display.

He made two voyages to New York to visit her in the 1930s[14] and stamped some of the merchandise retailed through her store with a custom "RENA" mark in addition to his trademark "wHw."

Rosenthal's patronage was critical to the post-war success of the Werkstätte Hagenauer; the hostilities caused a delay of several years in her payment for a last container of products shipped in 1938, and the subsequent change in exchange rate was very advantageous to the Austrian firm, supporting rebuilding efforts.

[15] The company turned to the production of metal objects and furniture needed for the restoration of houses and other structures damaged or destroyed in the war.

[17] Following the war, the Richard Rohac Company produced a wide range of decorative and practical objects in brass, which served both domestic and overseas markets.