Trata Maria Drescha ‘The Primaries’ Mosaic Triptych, 20th Century

A striking set of three hand-cut mosaic panels by Austrian-born artist Trata Maria Drescha (b. 1928), conceived as individual studies in red, yellow and orange. Presented together as The Primaries, variations in colour, texture and irregular geometry create a particularly strong modernist triptych.

Born in Graz, Austria, Drescha came to Britain on the Kindertransport in 1939, escaping Nazi persecution. She subsequently studied painting and drawing at the Royal Academy Schools, London, from 1949 to 1954. During a period of study at the Vienna Academy in 1953 she was introduced to mosaic, the medium that became central to her subsequent career.

Drescha developed a significant practice encompassing mosaics, murals and ecclesiastical art, including work for the Chapel of Unity at Coventry Cathedral, one of the defining British programmes of post-war art, architecture and reconstruction. Other documented commissions include the Digby Stuart Chapel at Roehampton, St Gregory’s, Earlsfield, and the Royal Marsden Hospital Chapel.

Each of these square panels is constructed from individually cut ceramic and glass tesserae within a substantial painted wooden frame. Rather than relying on a rigid grid, Drescha varies the dimensions, textures and tones of the tesserae, creating three compositions that are geometric yet unmistakably handmade.

The modest domestic scale is particularly interesting in relation to Drescha’s architectural work: the physicality and material richness of mosaic are retained, but concentrated into three compact studies of colour.

Each panel retains an artist’s label to the reverse. The handmade wooden frames have undergone light sympathetic restoration and repainting while retaining their original artisanal character.

Date: Second half of the 20th century
Medium: Hand-cut ceramic and glass mosaic tesserae in painted wooden frames
Format: Triptych / set of three
Identification: Artist’s labels to reverse
Dimensions: 25 × 25 × 3 cm each
Condition: Presents well; inherent variations consistent with handmade mosaic construction; frames sympathetically restored
Offered: As a set of three