R. L. Fritz art glass vase, 1973

This vase by R. L. Fritz is 11.5" high x 3" diameter and weighs 1.1 lbs. It is signed on the bottom "R L Fritz 1973". The signature matches other glass attributed to Illinois glass artist Robert Lee Fritz.

It has been used as a vase and is dirty inside but I have not attempted to clean it. I do believe this to be by Lombard, IL glass artist Robert Lee Fritz who has been active since 1971, so this would be an early piece by him and also a fairly early piece of American studio art glass. I was able to contact Mr. Fritz via email and asked a few questions I like to ask these early American studio glass artists. Here is his reply:

"I can confirm that this is one of the pieces I made when I was studying with Joel Myers at ISU. I graduated from ISU in 1974 and moved to the western suburbs of Chicago. I began setting up a glass studio in 1975 and was up and running by 1976. At that point I was using the front panels of Zenith televisions that I could get free from Melrose Park where they assembled the TVs. The panels were made by Corning in New York and shipped to the Zenith Rauland division. If there were imperfections, the factory threw them out and so I benefited from using that wonderful glass for about 15 years. When they changed the formula and began using a glass that was a gray violet, I used West Virginia cullet. When that source dried up, I began using System 96 which I still use today. "

It is more complex than most of the American studio art glass from this period that I have seen and wears its age well, I think. It is cased in clear glass, has an applied ribbon and other interesting features.

Robert Lee Fritz is still active and has a web site:

https://www.freeblownglass.com/

I do not usually shop in antique shops but visited one today, found this vase and was intrigued by the early date on it, if it was indeed made by an American studio glass artist. The only older pieces in my collection are by Illinois artist Daniel Edler.