Loetz Braun Silberiris Bowl, DEK 455, st PN II-1052, ca. 1903

Coming up with the accurate technical name for this bowl was difficult. Conventional wisdom on pieces like this one has been that the decor is Delphi - one glaring problem - the ground is not green, and Delphi as defined in "Loetz Bohemian Glass 1880-1940" (Ricke) has a green ground. This ground, however, is decidedly a rich brown color. The outer iridescence is just spectacular - deep blues and purples. The shape is very similar to PN II-1052, but the size of this one is a little smaller.

For the decor name, there are clues in the production notes for some of the paper patterns that are missing, and that's where I came up with the name. Braun (Brown) Silberiris is mentioned as a decor for production numbers (PNs) II-3/369 and II-3/420. Thanks to my friend Steve, I know that the decoration is designated DEK 455. He has a nice pair of vases in the same decor that are marked. Be sure to click on the images to full size - the details are amazing.