Pair of Jugendstil vases attributed to LOETZ. Bohemia, Czech Republic, ca. 1910.
Iridescent blown glass.
No signature.
Vases of similar characteristics and decorations at www.loetz.com/decoraciones.
Provenance: Private collection, Spain between 1970-1990.
Measurements: 5,5 x 9 x 9 x 9 cm and 5 x 2,5 x 2,5 cm.
These two small Jugendstil vases are made of iridescent glass, widely used in Central European modernism, characterised by its chromatism, which changes according to the angle of incidence of the light on its surface, and by its metallic appearance. This material, the result of intensive technical research carried out in the artistic glass workshops of the second half of the 19th century, is obtained by adding various metallic oxides to the basic glass mass.
The manufactory was founded in 1840 by Johann Loetz in Klostermuhle, Bohemia. Dedicated to the production of artistic glass, it was a pioneer in the use of new techniques and materials, following the line of experimentation of the glass artists of the second half of the 19th century. The firm took part in the Paris International Exhibition of 1889, where its pieces were unanimously acclaimed by critics. His opalescent blown glass vessels with metallic applications were particularly famous.