Posted 12 years ago
dlfd911
(134 items)
I have been wanting one of these since I first started collecting Loetz, which was around the year 2000. Back then they would show up fairly often. In perfect condition they went for a lot. But more often than not, they had bruises. The airtrap portions of the vase are easily damaged. I was even willing to buy a damaged one so I could better afford it, but even those sold for $500-$600, which at the time I was not willing to pay. Then there was a long spell of 10 years, during which I never saw them on eBay. In the past month, 4 have appeared, and I think I chose the best one. It is a manageable size, 6 1/4" tall, 4 3/4" wide. Delicate gold enamel embellishment on the folded down parts of the rim, and the extremely fine meandering lines that cover the brown areas. Small pontil area, marked with enamel "Pat 9159". It is similar to some forms I saw in the musterschnitte in Series I, but not close enough to assign it a number. From around 1888, I believe. Some of the references mention "Victoria" as another name for this decor. It was made in a lighter and darker brown, as well as a very rare turquoise.
I just added another photo to compare my brown one to the salmon pink one I just purchased. That one is a full 8 inches tall, with a matte finish and marked "Patent" on the polished pontil.
These pieces are best enjoyed in hand so you can enjoy the tactual qualities along with its visuals. Very nice example. 10 years ago this would have been a few thousand dollars. Great snag Dave.
You are so right, Tony. You just want to hold it and look at the detailed work on it, but too much handling is what wears away the enamel, so back into the cabinet it goes.
That's OK Al, I didn't buy it for you :)
This has been high up on my list of wants. Some day. . :) Very jelly! Nice snag!
It's awesome!
Thanks everyone for the loves and comments. By the way, I always appreciate your comments, likes and loves. I don't always thank people for them, but that is mostly to keep from filling up your inboxes with thank yous!
Love It! Love It! Love It!!!:)
Here is one that sold for a pretty penny.
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/sothebys/item/579052
Hi All
It is interesting to note that Octopus does not appear as a Dekor in the Munsterschnitte ... at least I have never been able to find it ... which suggests to me the name was applied retrospectively !
There are at least 3 obvious variations in the surface decorations - i.e between the "tentacles" .... the continuous trail of gold demonstrated here ... Victoria which has an Indian (sub-continent) motif heading to Arabesque ... and another with Gold spirals filling the spaces ....
Octopus also has a passing resemblance to the Franz Joseph Vase which is Onyx and Helmarmor ....
Given the links to Victoria (Empress of India) and the Franz-Joseph Vase (Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) I am tempted to head in the direction of Empire as the underlying theme. The other Emperor in 1888 was in Japan ... which would link to the Cloisonne Spirals ..
... and finally the missing part of the puzzle .... the lost Egyptian Empire ... given the fact that 19th Century Europe did have a fascination with Ancient Egypt .. which leads us to Sphinx ... a "missing" Loetz decor ... !!!
All pure conjecture at this point in time ... but then again this was once thought to be Webb ... is in most of the older books as such ...
My view of this surface decoration is of the shifting sands hiding the lost empire ...
Isn't this fun ...
Cheers
Thanks for that comment, Steve. The primary reason the decor seems to be missing from the musterschnitte is that only 35% of the shapes that were produced from Series I (from which this decor comes) appear in it, 5% of Series II, 2% of Series III, and 15% of the Commissioned shapes. When they wrote the two books, they focused mostly on the Art Nouveau period in Series I. There are some earlier ones, but just a smattering. They had both financial and technical problems that kept them from including more. Just look at the size of the new Series II/1 book, with 903 pages and over 10,000 shapes for just that series. The musterschnitte encompasses all three series plus some Commissioned shapes, and only has 595 pages. As far as Loetz research goes, this project that has been undertaken by Dr. Jitka Lnenickova and Christian Clausen is massive, but it is very necessary, a long time coming, and I think all collectors of Loetz glass will benefit from it in one way or another. It's not just publishing the photos in the books, but, more importantly, conserving the original paper patterns. When they are gone, they are gone forever. Many of them turned to powder already. I look forward to seeing what we have all been missing from Series I and III, and I expect it will shine some light on what we have been missing.
I reallly hope they are able to get that book on the early stuff soonish. :)
I was assured that it would happen. And they should be more easily available than the first one, which can only be purchased from the museum in the Czech Republic. The rest may be published in Austria.
Impression from the musterschnitte was that there were that many of the early records remaining ... so this could be very good news ...
Probably got a little carried away in the post above but my job involves a lot of Chaos Navigation and Pattern Recognition and I tend to do that ... (have another candidate for Japan as well) ... get carried away that is ... thought I would put the idea up for consideration ...
The research tools available in 1989 were a little limited as well ... certainly the internet, the auction sites and the discussion groups are turning up things you could have searched a lifetime for back then ...
I was just perusing your beautiful collection. The link to the Sotheby's auction you posted above currently has your vase auctioning tomorrow. Patent is spelled out completely on the bottom with your same number. Thought this may help you research the piece further if you haven't already:)
Patent 9159?
Yes. Link below.
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/20003314_loetz-octopus-federzeichnung-glass-vase