Loetz Pre-Nautilus with Altsilber

In the rediscovered pattern/sales catalog “Fantasie-Artikel auf Farbenglas” from around 1897, there are two initially inconspicuous vases on plate 6, which at first glance are reminiscent of Loetz's Nautilus decoration. However, Loetz did not introduce Nautilus until 1903/04, at least six years later.
Decors with twisted teardrops/tadpoles on a martelized background are not exclusive to Loetz. Wilhelm Kralik Sohn, the Elisabethhütte and certainly other Bohemian glassworks have realized comparable decors. Anyone who has familiarized themselves with the decors can usually distinguish between the variants with their small differences. Nevertheless, the question immediately arises as to whether the two glasses C 159 and C 168 could have been made by Loetz or whether they can be attributed to another glassworks.
The sources are rather sparse. A search for both vases in the Lötz paper patterns of series I does not turn up anything. However, pattern I-7068 from May 1897 shows similar (“small” and “large”) twisted drops. There is also a reference to “aufgelegter Rand” (applied rim) in the design description, but no entry with martelé for the base glass. However, the entry “candia geflecht mit Altsilber” provides a key to the search. In the usual Loetz style of description, “candia geflecht” refers to the base glass and “mit Altsilber” to the applications, i.e. the drops and rim. Now it gets exciting. The applications of vases C 159 and C 168 are clearly gray, not silver-yellow (as characteristic of “Nautilus”). The conclusion suggests itself that these two glasses are also designed with “Altsilber” (old silver) applications. If one also considers the chronological proximity to paper pattern I-7068, further puzzle pieces fall into place. This means that Loetz had already brought glasses with applications that resemble the later Nautilus decoration onto the market around 1897, but in Altsilber, i.e. in a blackish silver tone.
The final piece of the puzzle is provided by an article in “Show & Tell” on collectorsweekly.com. Six years ago, Nautilus versions were presented here. Voilà, among them is vase C 168 with a martelé ground applied with Altsilber. Even if the author here still assumes Kralik as the manufacturer, I think that this is a Loetz product. If the corresponding pattern cut had survived, we would probably find “candia martelé m. Altsilber”.
However, Loetz does not make it so easy for us. At least at the beginning of the Nautilus designs at the turn of the year 1903/04, the designers also used silver for the applications’ surface. This is evidenced by the entry “3 Tropfen, 3 Batzen und Silberrand / Nautilus” on pattern II-912. The last image shows an example with an unknown production number of this variant.

Admittedly, the factual basis is still somewhat poor and the attribution to Loetz is therefore not yet beyond doubt. But it seems to me to be a good basis for further research. Ultimately, this hypothesis also supports the assumption that all the glasses in the sample catalog were made by Johann Loetz's Witwe. But here we are already on the edge of speculation.

The catalog “Fantasie-Artikel aus Farbenglas” is made available for download by Pressglas-Korrespondenz: https://www.pressglas-korrespondenz.de/archiv/pdf/pk-2005-2w-02-mb-fantasie-1890.pdf

About the pictures:
• The two vases C 159 and C 168 on plate 6, the latter clearly showing the martelé background and applications, which are comparable to those of paper pattern I-7068.
• Pattern I-7068 and the corresponding entries (from Lötz 1989 and 2003).
• Comparison of the C 168 vase with the vase from Collectors Weekly (posted by cameoboy, ca. 2018)
• Loetz Nautilus with silver rim. This glass demonstrates the later use of silver overlay (Photo: Auktionshaus Nusser)