Literature:

From the estate of the painter Curt Herrmann (1854-1929), a friend of Henry van de Velde, and his wife Sophie, née Herz (1872-1931); private collection. Föhl/Neumann, Henry van de Velde, Vol. I, Metalwork, Leipzig 2009, p. 22. Sophie and Curt Herrmann: Sophie Herrmann (née Herz) was born on October 14, 1872, in Mannheim. Both her parents came from Jewish merchant families and placed great importance on providing their daughter with the best possible education. In addition to attending an excellent girls' school, Herz received private lessons in various foreign languages as well as painting and drawing instruction, including in Munich, Paris, and Rome. In 1895, she became a student of the painter Curt Hermann, who was 17 years her senior, and to whom she became engaged the following year. The young couple were introduced to Henry van de Velde through their friend, the art historian Julius Meier-Graefe, whom they met several times during their honeymoon in Paris and Brussels in 1897. They commissioned him to decorate their newly acquired apartment in Berlin's Tiergarten district, thus becoming some of van de Velde's earliest clients in Germany. At the same time, this unique pendant with a corded band was created, enclosing the owner Sophie Hermann's monogram, designed by van de Velde. The Hermanns and van de Velde shared a deep friendship, documented in extensive correspondence, which also records the exchange of gifts between them. In 1911, their relationship with van de Velde culminated in the elaborate redesign of their new apartment at Knesebeckstraße 96. Catalogue numbers 384-394 come from the estate of the painter Curt Herrmann (1854-1929), a friend of Henry van de Velde, and his wife Sophie, née Herz (1872-1931).