Loetz late period bowl, Opal m. violett u. stahlgrau Kröseln, ca. 1928

At first glance, this bowl may appear to be unlike anything Loetz ever did, but truth is in the details. I have seen photo evidence of bowls in this shape in known Loetz decors with the oval "CZECHO-SLOVAKIA" acid stamp. Digging through the Series III paper pattern production notes turned up a matching decor. In the notes for III-3916, we find "schale (bowl) opal m.(with) violett und stahlgrau (steel grey) Kröseln (frit). So here you have a bowl with opal ground, violett and steel-gray frit (the kind used in Titania glass) with a little aventurine mixed in. This is actually one in a family of decors used by Loetz from 1927 onward with various colored grounds (opal, mandarin, saphir, crystal, smoky amethyst) and colored frit (violet, red, orange, colorless, steel-gray Titania, and aventurine). It is also quite large - 3.5" tall, and 12" wide, weighing nearly four pounds!