Cooper Hewitt says...
WMF - Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik was originally founded in 1853 in Geislingen an der Steige, as a metalworking shop, but in 1880 it merged with another company and took the name Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik or Metalware Factory of Württemberg. Thereafter it actively acquired other companies, including a Polish metalwork company, and then the Kunstanstalt für Galvanoplastik München, which specialized in electrotyping and electroforming. In 1900, WMF acquired an Austrian metalwork company, Albert Köhler's AK & CIE, which produced and distributed WMF items under their mark to the Austria-Hungarian market until about 1914, accounting for some of the Wiener Werkstätte influences on the firm’s production.
By the early1900’s, WMF was the world's largest producer and exporter of domestic metalware, much of which was in the Jugendstil, or Art Nouveau style, but other examples showed the craft movement influence of the Wiener Werkstätte too. The firm's best known period occured during the directorship of Albert Mayer, a sculptor and designer, from 1884 to 1914. The firm acquired numerous other holdings, and continues to this day. It was acquired by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 2012.
