Posted 4 years ago
larksel
(130 items)
I think this is another vase produced by Ernst Steinwald & Co. So far, this decor and shape has been attributed to the Wilhelm Kralik glassworks. In my opinion, the shape corresponds to the shape from the advertisement of the Steinwald glassworks on Osiris glass (see photo 3), and is also similar to the shape from the advertisement (photo 2) of this glassworks in the Kur- und Badestadt Teplitz-Schönau publication from 1930 (see: https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/283784-ernst-steinwald?in=442-activityBohe). Shapes from this advertisement also appear in Buttler's catalog from the 1930s (photo 4). I think it is glass produced by Ernst Steinwald & Co. and not Wilhelm Kralik, as is still generally attributed.
The decor of the vase - referred to as "millefiori" - could be decor 2323 (or very similar ??), which appears in the catalog of lamp shades of the glassworks of Ernst Steinwald & Co. from 1930 - see: https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/284647-ernst-steinwald-and-kralik-dcors?in=442-activity
The vase has a semicircular marking Czechoslovakia at the bottom.
How is the Steinwald collection going? Have you decided to split up the Kralik glass into two different groups on the website? Thank you for posting this.
Yes, I have already moved part of the Kralik decors to Steinwald. Somewhere I mention either Steinwald or Kralik. But there is still little new information. See: https://www.bohemianglass.org/katalog/ernst-steinwald-co/#
I find this development fascinating. I have a number of examples of the same two millefiori and green powder but on a black/dark amethyst background with bright red interior. The decor is shown in top right image of Butler Bros ad above (image 4). One of my examples has a straight line 'Czechoslovakia' provenance mark. It has always been one of my favourite decors and I have always attributed it to Kralik, until your recent posts. Now I am definitely thinking Steinwald.
My examples are same shape and same mark as this: https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/210344-czech-vase--black-with-red
It has always amused me, also, that this shape - from the same mold - is also found in an upside-down version!
What has interested me too was not just the shape of the vase in Picture 2 but the decor. It seemed similar to the Loetz Ausf 220 aka "Korbgeflecht" (st PN III-510).
Just going through your Steinwald piece and noted that the sticker here was a bit of a mystery : https://www.bohemianglass.org/katalog/doza-s-vikem-vz-4-908/detail/
It should read Bestmaid. An importing firm's trademark : "The mark BESTMAID was officially filed as a trademark by NEW YORK MERCHANDISE COMPANY , on 06 Jul 1925 with its first use in commerce at 28 Feb 1923."
The last case file activity for this mark occurred 34 years ago on Friday, January 10, 1986, according to the United State Patent & Trademark Office.
You can see an intact version of the sticker here on CW :
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/77750-kralik-bowl-with-label
By the way a few years ago there was another example of the Bestmaid sticker on two Bambus vases owned by a CW COLLECTOR CZECHMAN: "Czechman writes:
FOUND ME A PAIR OF FABULOUS VASES BY KRALIK!!.. CA. 1920'S CLEAR GROUND, GLASS WITH RED / ORANGE DRAPED BAMBUS DECOR.. BOTH ARE UNMARKED, BUT ONE HAS THE ORIGINAL EXPORT LABEL.. BESTMAID REG US PAT OFF .. BOTH ARE IN FANTASTIC CONDITION.. MEASUREMENTS ARE 5 1/4" TALL ALMOST 5 1/2" ACROSS RIM AND HAS A 3 1/2" BASE... I AM KOO KOO OVER THEM!"
Vetraio, I have had exactly the same thoughts about that image and Loetz Ausf 220!
I agree, it reminds Loetz Ausf. 220. I heard the opinion that this decor from Loetz was also made by Kralik (it allegedly differs in design - the version from Loetz should be smoother, not so plastic). So maybe not Kralik, but Steinwald.
This is the decor I was referring to:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/182391-czech-millefiori-vase--kralik
Thank you Ales for your reply, I had another question about wharehouses. For instance I know that A. Ruckl & Sons had a warehouse in Prague which was the most practical place for them, with the railroad, and their 3 different plants which were not close in Czechoslovakia, Nizbor, Vcelnicka and Chalice near Novy Bor.
To store their glass inventory before exporting it. They certainly did not have the high volume that Kralik had and now Steinwald, who appears to have had a large chunk of what we thought was made by Kralik.
Have you ever learned of other glass whrehouses that were used in Prague during the 20s and 30s?
Unfortunately, I have no information about the warehouses of the glassworks in Prague.
But to the glassworks operated by Rückl it is necessary to add the Nove Mitrovice glassworks (1868 - 1931). This glassworks was founded by brothers Josef and Karel Rückl in 1868. Not much information has been preserved about the production of this glassworks. A smaller collection of glass from the production of the Nové Mitrovice glassworks is in the Museum of the Southern Pilsen Region in Blovice. These are mainly Tango glass and spatter glass. A significant part of the production was delivered as semi-finished products to refineries in the Nový Bor area. The glassworks definitively ceased operations on May 23, 1931 (as of that date, the glassworks employed 60 glassmakers). More information in the publication Josef Kozeluh, Jitka Lnenickova: Sklenena kras - historie novomitorvické sklárny (Glass Beauty - History of the Glassworks Nove Mitrovice", 2012.
Thank you so much Ales, for a very informative reply.
When I did my website for Anton Ruckl & Sons in 2015, I contacted the current executives of the Nizb0r plant, Jiri Ruckl's daughters, to let them know what I was planning and if they had any objection or information they wanted to tell me. They were fine with the idea. But with further contacts I learned that the Vcelnicka glass plant was owned by a Ruckl cousin, and they were adamant that it had nothing to do with them at the time after 1992, when they were bought back from the Czech Republic ownership.
This left me with an idea that the Ruckl families since the mid 19th century and their descendants had many glass plants over time, with the important aspect that each had a clear ownership of a particular named glassworks, and they were proud to be known for their unique glass business, and did not want to be confused with another Ruckl's glass products.
Having said that I am curious about the book you mention, this information sounds very interesting to me.
I think it better to wait for more documentation, surely they didn't only have one advertisement. I am working on what stays on the kralik side... hopefully both approaches work in the same way to better separate the pieces. In some cases I predict there is crossover and both have the same decors. ES or Kralik does have a grid-like piece similar to Loetz Ausf 220 but it runs vertical and horizontal (not diagonal). The same thing goes for Osiris, the decor seen here vertically is typically seen in a horizontal style.
So far...Marked types of kralik include: Cameo, Lava and gold flashed pieces
so far... Marked E&S pieces include: Caged, (some) Marquetry-Flowerall and Osiris
If we use shapes to delineate the companies E&S get a bunch more decors. Shapes are important too... considering two shapes in the add (Pic3) have have corresponding Marquetry decors.
Ales, Could the millifiorre decor seen here be Pastilla?
I'm trying to find some more documents for both Steinwald and Kralik, but it's almost hopeless. I hoped that there were some photos from the interior of the Czechoslovak exhibition at the Chicago World Fair 1933, but so far nothing. The marking on the bottom of Czechoslovakia will also not help much. Otherwise, I think that the Pastilla decor can be a "Millefiori" decor, but rather according to intuition and imagination - again no proof.