Christian Dell (24 February 1893 – 18 July 1974) was a German

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exact synonyms, as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are (or were, at least) largely the same but differed in that t ...

Biography

Christian-dell molitor-office-work-lamp-light

Dell was born in

Offenbach am Main Offenbach am Main () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Hesse, Germany, on the left bank of the river Main (river), Main. It borders Frankfurt and is part of the Frankfurt urban area and the larger Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Aut ...

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

. From 1907 to 1911 he completed the

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

forging studies at the academy. In 1912-13 he studied at the Saxon college of arts and crafts in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

. From 1922 to 1925 he worked as a foreman of the metal workshop at the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

in Weimar. In 1926 he changed to the

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

art school (

Städelschule The Städelschule, full name Hochschule für Bildende Künste–Städelschule, is a tertiary school of art in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It accepts about 20 students each year from around 500 applicants, and has a total of approximately 150 ...

). The

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

did not allow him to stay there in 1933, but

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (; 18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-born American architect and founder of the Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture. He was a founder of ...

offered him a job in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. However, Dell decided to remain in Germany. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Dell manufactured silver goods and opened a jewellery shop in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

in 1948, which he operated until 1955. He died in Wiesbaden in 1974. Beginning in 1926 Dell sketched lights, at first for the

New Frankfurt New Frankfurt (German: ''Neues Frankfurt'') was an affordable public housing program in Frankfurt started in 1925 and completed in 1930. It was also the name of the accompanying magazine that was published from 1926 to 1931 dedicated to intern ...

-project. As an early industrial designer and pioneer of plastic design, Dell used

bakelite Bakelite ( ), formally , is a thermosetting polymer, thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed by Belgian chemist ...

and aminoplastics as materials for his works for Molitor-Zweckleuchten in 1929–30. Well known are the lights for the lamp factory Gebr. Kaiser & Co. in Neheim Hüsten beginning in 1933–34, which were produced in large quantities.Kaiseridell
The Kaiser Idell brand and production of lamps are owned by the Danish design company Fritz Hansen

Bibliography

* Marion Godau, Bernd Polster: ''Design Lexikon Deutschland'', Köln 2000, * Peter M. Kleine, Klaus Struve: "Idee Christian Dell" ''Katalog zur Ausstellung in der Sparkasse Arnsberg-Sundern 1996'', * Beate Alice Hofmann: ''Christian Dell. Silberschmied und Leuchtengestalter im 20. Jahrhundert.'' Katalog zur Ausstellung im Museum Hanau, Hanau 1996, * Günter Lattermann: ''Bauhaus ohne Kunststoffe? - Kunststoffe ohne Bauhaus?'' In: ''form+zweck'', 2003. Jahrgang, p. 110-127, * Klaus Weber, Bauhaus Archiv: ''Die Metall Werkstatt am Bauhaus'', Berlin 1992,

Biography

Bibliography

References

Further reading