Hoffmann encountered an abundance of classical forms during his studies in Rome in 1896, which influenced his designs. Hoffman’s vases and centerpiece merge elements of Orientalism with modernist design. The vases reference both the elegant form of a folding fan and the 19th-century invention of corrugated galvanized iron—a cheap, mass-produced material that was quickly adopted in impoverished rural regions of the British Empire. This tension between industrial construction materials and the refined tastes of Hoffman’s elite clientele underscores a complex interplay between utility and luxury, tradition and innovation.
