Posted 11 years ago
bohemiangl…
(647 items)
Wikipedia says that the Art Deco style is often characterized by rich colors, bold geometric shapes, and lavish ornamentation. Two out of three ain't bad, I guess. :)
Historian Bevis Hillier in Art Deco in the 20s and 30s (1968) defined Art Deco as "an assertively modern style [that] ran to symmetry rather than asymmetry, and to the rectilinear rather than the curvilinear; it responded to the demands of the machine and of new material [and] the requirements of mass production".
To be honest, I was shocked to see the semi-circular acid stamped Czechoslovakia mark on this piece - I bought it as a study piece, as it is in a shape and color scheme that I haven't seen before. Its geometrically symmetrical shape, bold blue colored frosted glass, and chrome colored accents make it quintessentially art deco, but it does not feel at all like what we commonly call "Tango" glass. This leads me to the conclusion that it is relatively late in Kralik's period of production, which lasted right up until the start of World War II.
Warren, great photos..and the vase is beautiful!!! Nice study piece!
Cool piece... interesting question, could it be classified as Tango glass??
Jags, you might be able to make a case for tango, but I really don't feel like this piece fits that bill. The blue is muted (frosted), except for the silver stripes around the rim, shoulder, and base. It isn't the bright contrasting colors you normally see - no furnace decoration (applied rim, feet, etc) - it almost feels like a mid-century piece to me. If I hadn't seen the Czechoslovakia stamp, I would have thought this piece was from the 1940s or 1950s.
Warren, I always love your posts but here I have to dis-agree a little bit (for fun). It is a late piece but "tango"definitely! Tango because. the casing and solid color. These geometric stripes remind me of German pieces after the war, kralik did many variations of repeated geometric shapes at many if their factories (I believe before the word Art Deco was ever made up), the casing of glass is of great interest to me, I have seen kralik and loets case kvass with two colors to realy bring out the intensity of the tango (see my royal blue tango piece with Peche style flowers. Also kralik did a cherry red that is amazing with red inside, then white then red outside, the red is as red as blood in sunlight. Well done warren