Vase
Graf Harrach
Life Story
This tall, cylindrical glass vase in the Art Nouveau style is a product of Graf Harrach glassworks, Bohemia (present day Czech Republic).
Blow moulded in pale green opalescent glass, the vessel has been decorated with pulled white threads that have been pressed into the wall of the vase. This process has created a streaky pattern of a stylised iris or fleur-de-lys. Widest at the base and tapering to a column, the vase’s simple form is ornamented with a flared undulating rim.
The Harrach glassworks have a long history. Founded on the estate of Alois Raimund von Harrach in 1630, the glassworks was purchased in 1712 and given the name Neuwelter Hutte. Changing hands again in 1764, the factory was renamed Graflich Harrach’sche Glasfabrik.[1] In the 19th century the technical breadth of glass production encompassed, engraved glass, cut glass, enamelled glass and etched cameo glass. [2]
When this vase was manufactured around 1900, Graf Harrach was making glassware in the commercially successful Seccesionist and Art Nouveau styles, also referred to as Jugendstil (‘Youth Style’). Graf Harrach’s designers drew inspiration from the iridescent art glass of Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), emulating Tiffany’s works at the 1898 Jubilee Exhibition in Vienna. [3] The graphic designs of Alphonse Maria Mucha (1860-1939) were also incorporated into Harrach’s enamelled glass vases.
An enthusiastic advocate of the Art Nouveau style, Bohdan Kadlec (1884-1900) ran Graf Harrach in the period 1884-1900, followed by Jan Mallin from 1901-1913. [4] Kadlec had close connections to the faculty of the Prague School of Applied Art, and engaged teachers and students in the production of innovative designs, which were then manufactured at the company’s glassworks. [5] Mallin continued this lucrative business strategy and took design direction from decorative artists, such as Julius Jelinek (1874-1918).
Vanessa Tothill, January 2021
[1] https://www.20thcenturyglass.com/glass_encyclopedia/bohemian_glass/harrachovglass_home.htm Sourced from Lesley Jackson, 20th Century Factory Glass (London: Mitchell Beazley, 2000) [accessed 28 January 2021]
[2] https://www.20thcenturyglass.com/glass_encyclopedia/bohemian_glass/harrachovglass_home.htm Sourced from Lesley Jackson, 20th Century Factory Glass (London: Mitchell Beazley, 2000) [accesed 28 January 2021]
[3] Amanda Geitner and Emma Hazell, ed., The Anderson Collection of Art Nouveau (Norwich: Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia, 2003), p. 132.
[4] https://www.20thcenturyglass.com/glass_encyclopedia/bohemian_glass/harrachovglass_home.htm Sourced from Lesley Jackson, 20th Century Factory Glass (London: Mitchell Beazley, 2000) [accessed 28 January 2021]
[5] Robert Truitt and Deborah Truitt, ‘Harrach Glassworks: 300 Years of Quality and Innovation’ Journal of Glass Studies, Vol. 47 (2005), pp. 107-119, (p. 113).
Further Reading
Amaya, Mario, Art Nouveau (London: Dutton Vista, 1966)
Couldrey, Vivienne, The Art of Louis Comfort Tiffany (London: Quarto Publishing, 1989)
Geitner, Amanda and Emma Hazell, ed., The Anderson Collection of Art Nouveau (Norwich: Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia, 2003)
Greenhalgh, Paul, ed., Art Nouveau, 1890-1914 (London: V&A Publications, 2000)
Greenhalgh, Paul, ed., The Nature of Dreams: England and the Formation of Art Nouveau (Norwich: Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia, 2020)
Jackson, Lesley, 20th Century Factory Glass (London: Mitchell Beazley, 2000)
Truitt Robert and Deborah Truitt, ‘Harrach Glassworks: 300 Years of Quality and Innovation’ Journal of Glass Studies, Vol. 47 (2005), pp. 107-119.
