Loetz Persian Rose water Sprinkler, Heliotrop mit dunkelblau und Silber, ca. 1900

So, this is the one that I obsessed over and that finally followed me home from the Baltimore show. Although the decor is (rarely) found on other shapes, there is only one shape in the published patterns from Series II that lists this decor, and that's II-381 (a different shape), designed for the Paris Exhibition of 1900.

This decor, created in 1899, and this rose water sprinkler shape, were very much part of the Loetz strategy to compete with Tiffany around 1899-1900.* The shape corresponds to five different published production numbers - as the notes accompanying PN II-743 say, "Production Numbers I-7636, II-77, II-456, II-676, and II-743 are all the same shape and size, but have vary in decor." This decor is not listed for any of them. I was fortunate enough, however, to be able to compare this one directly with an example of the Paris piece (II-381 in the same decor) in Baltimore. So I think this is a really special piece made at a pivotal time in Loetz company history.

*Source: Loetz Bohemian Glass 1880-1940, published by Hatje Cantz