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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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A wonderful pair of Bohemian glass jugs, each of fluted baluster form, the body very finely engraved overall with images of deer and stags in a forest glade, set against firs and tall deciduous trees, one with the animals at rest the other during a hunt, with a geometrically shaped wavy handle on a spreading multi-facetted pedestal foot Bohemia, date circa 1880-1910 Height 37.5 cm. each. This very handsome pair of glass jugs originate from Bohemia; the engraved decoration being one of a number of popular motifs inspired by nature and like much of the Bohemian glass of the period is of the very finest quality and complexity. Bohemia, which was formerly part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is now part of the Czech Republic The history of its glass dates back as far as the third century B.C. but the development of its industry began during the second half of the fourteenth century, at which point about 20 manufacturers and glass furnaces were registered. During the following century the main production from the Bohemian glass factories was a greenish shade of glass, known as ‘Waldglas’ or ‘forest glass’. Later in the sixteenth century the Venetian style and use of crystal glass became evident. In 1588 Rudolf II invited the Italian cameo cutter Ottavio Miseroni to Prague where he set up a workshop. Miseroni was instrumental in the development of a new method of decorating Bohemian glass, namely engraving, which involved the cutting of glass on stone or copper wheels. Thereafter the techniques and methods of Bohemian glass engraving developed quickly. Two main centres arose being Jablonec and Ceska Lipa, where the glass engraver’s traditions and skills have continued to the present day. During the late 1600’s some of the northern Bohemian factories began making a new type of glass that included potash and a high proportion of chalk to create a greater brilliance, which was particularly well adapted for elaborate engraved decoration. From the late seventeenth up until the late eighteenth century the Bohemian glass industry flourished without significant rivals but then came opposition when lead crystal glass made in England, France and Ireland began to compete since lead crystal glass was far more easily cut, it was heavier and had a far higher lustre. Following a decline in business as well as commercial isolation due to the Napoleonic wars, the Bohemian glassmakers made a comeback shortly after 1815. They learned how to make lead crystal and how to improve the melting of glass and also created their own style by combining the simple English diamond cutting method with engraved decoration and consequently introduced a range of increasingly complex cut decorations. From the 1820’s the Bohemian factories began producing large quantities of glass in the Biedermeier style, specialising in flashed and cased pieces in brilliant colours. During the Biedermeier period there were probably more painters, cutters, engravers and glass workers in Bohemia than in any other part of the world; together they employed every technique in an endeavour to rival glass made in England, Ireland, France and Venice. But eventually there were too many skilled workers and as a consequence a number emigrated to join their former revivals. Nevertheless the Bohemian glass industry continued to flourish on its own accord. With the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918 Bohemia was split off to form a free-market democracy and with it inherited nearly all of the original glass making industry. As a result of its independence glass exports soared and by 1936 about 40% of the world’s glass was being made in independent Czechoslovakia. |