LIBRARIES OF LIGHT: PHOTOGRAPHIC BOOKS FROM THE V&A COLLECTION
Josef Wlha, 'Illustrated Catalogue of the Austrian Masterpieces of Fine and Decorative Arts Publishing Company', 1893. Museum no. E.1252-1995
Josef Wlha (active 1885-1906)
'Illustrated Catalogue of the Austrian Masterpieces of Fine and Decorative Arts Publishing Company'
(Illustrirter Katalog des Kunstverlages österr. Meisterwerke der bildenden Künste und des Kunstgewerbes)
1893
Vienna
Museum no. E.1252-1995
These tiny photographs of works of art show multiple examples of the same type of object - here, ceramic stoves and details of architectural ornament. The book served both as an index of decorative art typologies and also as a catalogue of photographs that could be individually ordered in larger sizes.