Vase

Blow moulded, this bottle-shaped vase in purple glass is decorated with criss-crossing iridescent spun threads. Possessing a square base with four indented faces, the walls of the vessel gradually taper inwards to create a short cylindrical neck with an everted, undulating rim.

Unlike the ornamental floral vessels for which the company is well known, this work by Wilhelm Kralik Sohn has a simple geometrical form and abstract linear decoration. Iridescent finishes, inspired by excavated ancient Roman, Syrian and Egyptian glass, had been popularised by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) in his Favrile art glass ranges. [1] Competing glass manufacturers developed their own methods for producing surface iridescence and metallic lustres.

This vase was manufactured at the glasswork in Lenora, Southern Bohemian (present day Czech Republic) by Wilhelm Kralik Sohn. Founded by Josef Meyra in 1815, the glassworks passed through the family line to Wilhelm Kralik. After Wilhelm’s death in 1877, the company was divided between his four sons. Heinrich (1840-1911) and Johann Kralik (no dates) operated the glassworks at Eleonorenhain and Ernstbrunn. These were amalgamated and renamed Wilhelm Kralik Sohn by Heinrich after Johann’s retirement in around 1922. The other two sons, Hugo and Karl Kralik continued glass production under the name, Meyr’s Neffe. [2]

Wilhelm Kralik Sohn’s glass production imitated the commercially successful designs of Bohemian firm Loetz Witwe. This has led to the misattribution of many of Kralik’s high-end works.

Vanessa Tothill, January 2021

[1] Vivienne Couldrey, The Art of Louis Comfort Tiffany (London: Quarto Publishing, 1989), pp. 41, 45.

[2] https://www.20thcenturyglass.com/glass_encyclopedia/bohemian_glass/kralikglass_home.htm [accessed 22 January 2021]; https://www.bohaglass.co.uk/kralik-glass-pale-imitator/ [accessed 22 Janurary 2021]