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RARE COLLECTOR'S ITEM FOR THE CONNOISEUR!
A RARE & HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER MODERN VASE WITH RED AND BLACK/PURPLE RANDOM STRAPS, DESIGNED BY THE IMPORTANT CZECH DESIGNER JIRI SUHAJEK IN 1973 FOR MOSER
Rare hand-made art glass from behind the Iron Curtain : a unique opportunity to own your very own, very beautiful piece of 20th Century European History, designed by one the most famous contemporary designers!
With armies of collectors internationally now snapping up 20th Century Czech art glass, these high quality items are becoming both harder to find and more collectable by the day.
- Design & production: 1973 for Moser, Karlo Vary
- Manufacture : late 1970s / Pattern : 54253 / Height : around 125 mm / Weight : 930 g
- Excellent condition; a minute (and hardly visible) fleabite at the top
PROFILE
Jiri Šuhájek is one of the Czech Republics most important and progressive living glass designers. Gaining experience at the genesis of the studio glass movement in Britain under Sam Herman, he is also one of the few Czech glass artists who crosses design and making. Combined with the high quality of glass produced at Moser, Suhajek was able to create a number of important designs, including this vase. All were a new departure for Moser, in terms of their style and the way the designer worked closely with the glassmakers throughout the production process, and often with individual pieces.
Random straps or trails applied in an almost painterly manner are a recurring motif in Šuhájeks work at this time. They serve to give an optical effect when combined with the body, and to drive home the unique studio glass nature of this serially produced piece. The trailed V shape is repeated in Šuhájeks work of the period and this design was profiled in the State's trade periodical Czechoslovak Glass Review in February 1974.
Hill, Mark. Hi Sklo Lo Sklo: Post War Czech Glass Design from Masterpiece to Mass-produced, 2008, 148pp. An example from this range is reproduced on page 60.
Czechoslovak Glass Review February 1974.
Along with Scandinavia and Italy, Czechoslovakia was one of the leading European producers and exporters of glass across the world during the second half of the 20th Century. The 1950s-70s saw a renaissance in Czech glass design that confirmed and re-established the country's global reputation in this area.
From behind the Iron Curtain, highly talented and exceptionally skilled designers pushed the boundaries of 20th century glass design and produced unique art glass masterpieces that went on to inspire visually stunning ranges and exquisite works of art in sparkling glass. Exported and sold around the world as art glass for the home, these modern and vibrantly coloured designs became enormously successful.
During the last five years or so international tastes and fashions have brought Czech post war art glass very much into vogue once again and hence the renewed appreciation of the glass hierarchy and the public alike. Czech art glass has rapidly been becoming the latest highly sought after additions to prized art glass collections all over the world.
Glass from the mid-20th century is vintage glassware and age related signs of wear such as small fine surface scratches/marks should be expected. The items are hand-made, they may have imperfections such as bubbles, inclusions and lumps within the glass. Tool marks from where they have been shaped and worked in the manufacturing process can often be seen. As this indicates authenticity and forms an inherent part of the character of handmade crystal glass, these are normally not considered as faults by collectors.
This magnificent vase is an original and rare, hand-made Czech art glass vase (and not Italian Murano, Daum, Kosta Boda, Orrefors, Flygsfors, Swarovski, Leerdam, Val St Lambert or Lalique studio glass). I personally sourced this beauty from the Czech Republic. Appreciation and acknowledgement to Messrs Mark Hill and Jindrich Parik for their invaluable archival and reference material.
