Posted 6 years ago
artfoot
(367 items)
Last month I posted a trio of rose-throated blue vases that were marked with a couple different "Czechoslovakia" acid stamps Today, I have a white one, a very similar vase to one of those pieces but in a different color. That obvious difference is not the only difference though. Both are very close to the same size (6" [15.2 cm] tall) but side by side comparison does show subtle differences in the shapes. Still this is not the biggest difference. The biggest difference is the underside of this white vase is marked "Germany".
To my mind, that is a pretty big difference. Without the mark I would tend to think it would be Czechoslovakian like the others. The quality of the workmanship, the feel of the glass, is the same in these two pieces. The unfinished pontil scar on the white piece is not unusual on Czech pieces. My mind would have wrongly put it with the "unattributed Czech" pile. But with the mark, it goes in a different "unattributed" pile and my mind races. I am reminded Germany once had the largest number of glass houses in Europe. I think of companies like Poschinger that have long produced items associated with Bohemian and Czech glass. I think of a time of free trade and thriving economies where businesses and artisans took inspiration from each other and competed without animosity (OK - maybe I'm dreaming now). I think of all that is buried in the rubble of war.
Yesterday, I was at a thrift shop and saw a very Bohemian looking piece of amethyst crackle glass. I was very excited and picked it up and started running my hands over it and was very pleased. Then I turned it over and saw the paper "Made in India" label on the bottom. Never seen that before. It was still a nice piece of glass and only a couple of dollars and I thought about buying it and posting it on CW as an example but didn't. I might have bought it and posted it as possible Bohemian , if it hadn't had the label. If there is interest, I could go back and see if it is still there and post it.