Jugendstil tabletop centrepiece PALLME-KÖNIG. Bohemia, Czechoslovakia, ca. 1900.
Iridescent blown glass.
A tabletop centrepiece of iridescent blown glass by the Austrian manufacturer Pallme-König. Square in shape with inward-sloping walls, with grooved decoration on the sides and a mouthpiece with folds and undulations.
Decoration with ribbed vertical stripes in metallic tones on an iridescent maroon background. Sides, base and feet in gilt metal with geometric decorations and garlands.
Provenance: Private Spanish collection, formed between 1970 and 2010.
Good condition. Normal wear and tear due to use and the passage of time.
Measurements: 25 x 24 x 24 cm .
Of the glass produced in the Czechoslovak Art Nouveau period, perhaps the most distinctive, and most frequently imitated by others, is that of the firm Pallme-König. In 1888, Josef and Theodor Pallme-König founded their glass factory, under the name Elizabethhütte, in honour of their mother. Although this was always the official name, the factory is better known as Pallme-König. Around 1900, Wilhelm Hable, co-owner of the factory, patented the technique that would make them famous, which can be seen in this vase. It is a process for producing glass decorated on its surface in a special way, with glass threads encircling the piece. This technique eventually became known as spun glass, and was in common use in virtually all Bohemian modernist glass factories, such as Loetz or Kralik. The personal trademark of Pallme-König production is based on the maximum exploitation of the possibilities of glass. Pallme-König pieces are kept in important museums specialising in Art Nouveau, such as the Brohan Museum in Berlin, the Passau Museum in Passau, also in Germany, and the Corning Museum in the United States.