Posted 12 years ago
manddmoir
(22 items)
As a just a few people know, I’ve managed to find a few quite nice things recently. This, I think, is my No1 favourite. It was bought on-line and, when I bid on it, I assumed it was slightly damaged. Now we all know what we buy on-line isn’t always what we expect, but it is rather nice to be positively surprised just occasionally.
Here's what turned up on my doorstep (left most three pictures; vase and close-ups of top and bottom)
My first reaction was Harrach – clear to green with intaglio cutting and strangely –looking at the poor on-line pictures, what I thought must be pink staining to the top, –unusual - but I knew I’d seen something similar before.
When it arrived, beautifully packed, I was very happy with it - impressive 10-11inches tall, and to my amazement what I thought was one of the top petals being reduced by a chip was in fact clearly part of the original pattern –it’s quite perfect. Also, rather surprising, was what I assumed was pink staining was a band or 1/3 -1/2 inch thick glass over-cased in pink and then deeply intaglio carved.
After going through dozens of books and a few 1000 photos I found its sister (right hand photo). The match is in a Novy Bor Museum and declares it to be the c1902 work of Karl Thomas at Kamenicky Senov (AKA Steinschenau) the great enamelling and cutting school –this too looks like it is on a Harrach blank.
The technique is amazing I guess the pink band must be hot applied, and in a strange way it mimics the marquetry pieces you sometimes see in this style. Only the coloured band is intaglio cut like the rest of the vase rather than being carved.
It’s the first time I’ve ever known a piece of Kamenicky Senov/Steinschenau glass to be attributable to a particular student, but then he was clearly rather distinctive and very good! I wonder if he only made these whilst a student or did someone like Harrarch take him on as an employee to make more – it would have been a good idea –the guy had talent.
Anyone know any more about this style, with the hot applied coloured band, or for that matter Karl Thomas?
Beautiful....:)
Fantastic!
If it's hot applied glass that means that part must have been done at Harrach as well.. I do not think you can apply hot glass to cold glass without cracking.
You figure these talented students must have gone somewhere. right? Did you get either of the books on novy bor glass? If not I'll try and find mine and see if they talk about him in there.
Yep I think hot applied means the band must have been applied when making hence at Harrach. - I guess the only possibility is that better students were allowed to go on site to do such work -it was nearby! Did not get both books at Novy Bor so please do look! -Multi ta
There are three books.. none of them had this. Kind of surprised me. I thought for sure i'd seen this in one of them. No mention of him either that I could easily find. If he was a cutter I dont' imagine he'd need to be there for the hot applied part. They could probably easily order some made like that from harrach.
the other thing to consider is that it might have been a class of students working on this type of thing not just one student.
Check out the background detail of this Passau photo:
http://www.glasscollector.net/PassauTour/imga0190.html
Links in with the Harrach Moravia piece just listed by the Moirs too!
Why is it when you look through books and photos you always find what you were looking for the LAST time!? I was re-going through my endless Harrach pictures and low and behold in the Harrach factory museum section at the back of a cabinet is a vase orange with a green band - the style is almost identical to my vase -including the top flower (and band) being 'cut out' as with this one. I can't be certain, but I may well have answered my own question - it looks like Karl Thomas did indeed go to on work for Harrach and I suspect my one is from that period!
well either that or the design was commissioned thru Harrach. I keep reading how this glass house executed that design from KKS
the amount of glass in those photos is mindboggling. I think the brain can't process it all at once. I tend to have more than one thing I am looking for when I scan thru them. It's rare to find what you are looking for though. Still trying to work out where I saw that Lizard. I am not sure it was in a museum over there. I hate it when you know you've seen something but can never find it again. that happens more often then i'd like as well. LOL.
back to the point, Just because there is one signed with that certain style by a student doesn't mean he was the only one doing that design. I could be wrong but I don't think it worked like that. I think they were given a design and had to make it and then signed their work. There was probably more than one student who made that and it was probably designed by someone entirely different. One of the heads of the school or one of the designers from one of the glasshouses they worked with. It might have been one of the Harrach designers who made that design and harrach also made that kind of glass.
Yep all possible - there is a link some where I'm sure -but maybe Thomas copied a existing Harrach design -all we have is- this vase - a quite similar one from a top glass school, on what looks to be a Harrach blank and a very similar one in the Harrach factory museum. Its a great piece and I'd say a rare one!
Definitely! it's a stunner!