Vase; Bohemia, 19th century

Vase; Bohemia, 19th century
Cut glass; ruby enamel
Features a fluted rim
Measurements: 36 x 14 x 14 cm.

Flared vase in ruby-red glass. The body tapers outward in a trumpet shape, with a flared rim, and rests on a flattened knob and a circular, stepped foot. The decoration, wheel-engraved, depicts a wooded landscape with a deer in the foreground, among trees and vegetation-covered ground. The motif continues on the inside of the rim with branches and leaves.

Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) was one of the major centers of European glassmaking, and its production achieved international fame in the 19th century, especially during the Biedermeier period. Workshops in the Ore Mountains and northern regions produced colored glass featuring engraving, cutting, and enamel work, intended for an expanding bourgeois market, and exported throughout Europe and the Americas.

Ruby red was one of the most prized colors. It was traditionally obtained by adding copper or gold compounds to the glass, or by applying a layer of color to colorless glass, which was then etched to reveal the clear background. Hunting motifs—featuring deer, roe deer, and forest landscapes—were among the most common decorations on Bohemian spa and souvenir glassware. They were associated with spa towns such as Karlovy Vary and Marienbad, where visitors purchased glasses and vases as souvenirs, as well as with the hunting pastime of the Central European nobility.