Vase

This lime-green glass vase with pewter neck mount was possibly manufactured at a factory in Bohemia around 1900. Unfortunately, this object is unsigned and the manufacturer has not been identified.

Widest at the base and tapering towards the rim, the blow-moulded form of this vessel has diagonal indentations that create a spiralling effect. The vase is completed with a wide pewter neck mount with a repoussé design of pomegranates. Four green glass cabochons stud the rim, adding opulence to the hammered relief work of the mount. Imaginative interpretations of nature were a key characteristic of Art Nouveau design.

Between 1890 and 1910, the Art Nouveau style shaped the aesthetics of European and American architecture and applied design. The Austro-German counterpart to Art Nouveau, ‘Jugendstil’ (Youth Style), took its name from the Munich-based journal Die Jugend, which featured illustrations by Secessionist artists and avant-garde designers. [3] Bohemian glassworks were conscious of these artistic developments and catered to the growing demand in Europe’s capital cities for innovative Jugendstil designs.

Vanessa Tothill, February 2021