A gold novelty brooch, by Hans Georg Mautner, 1968, designed as a stylised 18ct gold reindeer with textured body, polished antlers and legs, the eye set with a ruby cabochon, maker’s mark ‘HGM’, London hallmark, length 49mm. £260-£360

Hans Georg Mautner

Hans Georg Mautner (1901-circa 1972) was born in Weigelsdorft, Austria, and did an apprenticeship in Prague in 1919, then started work in 1921 for wholesale silversmiths and jewellers Berthold Muller at Hanau. He went on to establish a workshop and retail shop in Vienna in 1925, exhibiting regularly at the Künstlerhaus in Vienna. In 1933 he won a silver medal at the Triennale de Milano and a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition in 1937. According to his biography which accompanied the catalogue for the 1961 International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery 1890-1961, he came to work in London in 1938 where he had a workshop in Hatton Garden.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Mautner produced jewels for S. J. Rood in Burlington Arcade and Boucheron in Old Bond Street, both in London. He also made jewellery for the Crown Jeweller Garrard & Co. Ltd from 1952, the year in which they merged with The Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Co. Ltd, and moved premises to 112 Regent Street, London.

Mautner worked with both 9 and 18ct gold, and used semi-precious stones. He produced ‘wacky animal brooches in whimsical poses, often using rubies or emeralds as eyes’ , (Wingfield) - these brooches often being small in size.



Our thanks to: Mary Ann Wingfield: Modern British Jewellery Designers 1960-1980), pub. ACC ART BOOKS, 2021, pages 112-121, for additional background information.