Lötz vase Prd.No. 85/3781 in Syrius decor. Attr. Koloman Moser, 1900.

This vase Prd.No. 85/3781, produced for Bakalowits, is one of Koloman Moser's best known designs as well as one of the most displayed in monographic books on both the designer and Lötz glass.

What makes this piece so special is its quite rare decor: Syrius. At a first sight this decor can be mistaken as Vulkano or even Pensée Verlaufend, as it happened to me the first time I ever laid eyes on it, but the intense pinkish violet on the upper part of the vase made me realise that it was actually a great sample of Syrius decor. The rest of the vase has a greenesh tone, and all of it is cristalopisch. Not long ago Bohmianglass shared with us a most beautiful vase attirbuted to Antonija Krasnik in a “Syrius Optisch” decor, as he calls it.

There are two period pictures where this vase is displayed (pic 3). The first one was published on Ver Sacrum (issue No. 24, 1900), where we can see it over a Josef Hoffmann “buffet”. The other one shows a display of Bakalowitz vases desgned by Kolo Moser, as a not too legible text tells.

Vases in this shape can also be seen at the PASK (Klatovy) and the MAK (Vienna).

I am sharing an image (pic 4) displaying three Lötz items in my collection where you can compare the Syrius (1900), Vulkan (1902) and Pensée Verlaufeld (1902) decors. On the bottom of the same pic you can see six 85/3781 vases in different decors.

By the way, this season, and until April 22nd, there is a major exhibition on Koloman Moser being held at the MAK in Vienna. I hope we'll be able to visit it!

Jan 24th.

In spite of the common attribution of this vase authory to Kolo Moser, in the Helmut Ricke's "Katalog der Musterschnitte" it is not attributed to him. We'll have to wait for the book on paper patterns for the Loetz comissions to be published to learn what Jitka Lnenicková thinks about it.