ORIVIT

Biography

ORIVIT AG was a German metalware production company founded in 1894 as ‘Rheinische Broncegieserei fur Kleinplastiken’ by Wilhelm Ferdinand Hubert Schmitz (1863-1939).

In 1896 they began producing luxury items with the so called ORIVIT metal which contains 89.85% pewter, 7.9% antimony, 1.9% copper and 0.12% silver. This was a richer and brighter version of pewter that looked like silver and had the advantage of a lesser production costs and also reduced oxidation of the metal compared to silver or silverplated items.

The company built a new fabric in Köln-Braunfels in 1901/02 where they began using a new revolutionary press called the ‘Huber Presverfahren’.

Although the company won several prizes for their products they went into financial collapse in 1905 and were bought by WMF, another famous German metalware company. WMF continued producing items under the name of ORIVIT until 1914.

The designers of ORIVIT were:

Theo Blum

Georges Charles Couldray

Hermann Gradl

Georg Grasegger

Johann Kristian Kroner

Walter Scherf

Victor Heinrich Seifert