- The Bauhaus emphasis on mastery of materials
combined with the aspiration to merge
art and life made the production of objects
intended to be useful, affordable,
and beautiful, the central focus
of all the school's workshops.
This was made most apparent in the metal workshop.
Johannes Itten, who encouraged designers
to explore personal issues, was master of form
in charge of almost all workshops
at the Bauhaus at the beginning.
In 1922 when he was forced out,
Walter Gropius diverted the Bauhaus
toward the needs of industry, and appointed
Moholy-Nagy to head the metal workshop.
Nagy began a system focused on mass production.
Students were encouraged to begin
design, planning, and creation of workable prototypes.
Within a year Nagy established a production line.
Some of the 20th century's most iconic
design objects were created at the Bauhaus metal workshop.
Objects such as Karl Jacob Jucker
and Wilhelm Wagenfeld's table lamp,
Wolfgang Tumpel's incredibly functional
tea infuser holder, and Marianne Brandt's
geometrically precise ashtrays were produced.
These objects were used in the Bauhaus campus itself.
The objects were put to use in the canteen,
students' apartments, and workshops.
Most of the light fixtures from the
metal workshop were placed in the
masters' houses and in the Bauhaus building.
Marriane Brandt was the first woman
to attend the metal working studio,
and replaced Moholy-Nagy as studio director in 1928.
This was remarkable at a time when
female students were relegated to
the school's weaving classrooms.
In the workshop, Brandt fully embraced
the Bauhaus' move toward functionalism.
Her sculptural and geometric silver
and ebony teapot reflects the influence
of her mentor Moholy-Nagy, and an emphasis
on geometric industrial forms.
It was designed with careful attention
to functionality and ease of use, from the
non-drip spout to the heat resistant ebony handle.
But it was difficult to put into mass production
and remained an expensive handmade item.
Brandt designed several other commercially
successful objects.
Körting & Mathiesen produced the
Kandem bedside table lamp in 1928.
By 1932 they sold more than 50,000 Bauhaus designed lamps.
Brandt's Kandem lamp was a top seller.
She returned to her hometown in 1932
in a town that was located on what was
to become East Germany.
After the war in the economically depressed
and repressive East German government,
she was unable to find regular work as a designer.
The Soviet-controlled East German government
despised the decadent Bauhaus, but by
the end of her life, Brandt had a
loyal group of students from her
many years as a teacher of design.
Under the guidance of Moholy-Nagy,
Marianne Brandt and Wilhelm Wagenfeld
everyday objects such as the Bauhaus lamp WA 24
and tea infuser are still in production
and are today considered to be icons of the 20th century.
In 2007 one of Brandt's model number MT 49
tea infusers was sold for a record breaking $361,000.