Lot 12: Four German Stencil Templates & Tracing Patterns

Suite of Four German Stencil Templates and Tracing Patterns for Interior Painting, from the Deutsches Maler Journal , books I and II (Stuttgart: W. Speeman, 1876-1878), including vol. I, sheet 11, four mythological beasts, designed by Adolf Gnauth (1840-1884), vol. I, sheet 30, neo-Grec masque, vase and corner ornament, book II, sheet 22, neo-Grec pilaster decorations, and book II, sheet 51, neoclassical scrolling borders, each quarto sheet 23-3/4" x 33", mounted on board and presented in a molded wooden frame with rope-twist filet and glazed, overall 33-1/2" x 43-1/2". The Deutsches Maler Journal was founded in 1876 by architect Adolf Gnauth (1840-1884) and painter Ludwig Lesker (1840-1890) as an organ of the Deutschen Maler-Bundes [German Painter's Federation], and dealt specifically with the technical aspect of painted interiors. Each volume contained a folio sheet of letterpress, four chromolithographs of interior painting designs, and anywhere from six to nine quarto sheets of stencil templates and tracing patterns which designers could use to re-create the lithographed designs. The journal's contributors were among the most noted German architects and designers of the day, e.g. Georg von Hauberrisser (1841-1922), Eugen Neureuther (1806-1882) and Hans von Kolb (1845-1928). Appearing as it did at the height of the German Historismus movement, the journal recorded an eclectic array of revivalist designs, including Greek, Roman, Gothic and Renaissance, which remain not only a documentary record of the era but also functional tools for today's designers. Many of the stencils were reprinted in the 1960's by Dover Press as Victorian Stencils for Design and Decoration , though in reduced size from these large-scale, period originals.