Jugendstil Loetz

Jugendstil LOETZ vase; Austria, ca. 1900.
Iridescent blown glass.
Iridescent blown glass vase from the Austrian manufacture of Loetz, conical body with flared central part, circular base and mouthpiece. Decoration "Phaenomen PG 6893", with metallic violet ripples of different lengths extending from the top to the bottom or from the bottom to the top of the vessel. Side handles, front decorations and gilt metal base.
Provenance: Spanish private collection, formed between 1970 and 2010.
Good preservation. Normal wear and tear due to use and the passage of time.
Measurements: 38.5 cm (height) x 16 cm (largest diameter).
Johann Loetz Witwe was the most important manufacturer of art glass in Klostermühle, Bohemia. The works of Johann Loetz are among the most outstanding examples of Art Nouveau. In Wottawattal was one of the oldest glassworks, which was purchased in 1850 by Johann Loetz, the company founder and former owner of glassworks in Deffernik, Hurkental, Annatal and Vogelsang. In 1879, Max Ritter von Spaun, grandson of Johann Loetz, took over the factory from his grandmother and continued to manage it under the old company name, "Joh. Lötz Witwe". The factory had previously been equipped with an important milling workshop. It was here that heavily cut glass and perforated enameled intermittent glass was manufactured. The company began producing colored glass in the 1860s. Loetz glass has always been special because of its purity and fiery colors, and was initially purchased as raw glass by North Bohemian refiners, who refined it by painting and polishing. Later, due to the high regard for glass, the company started the production of special luxury items. The company was the first to manufacture so-called baroque glass (objects with applied glass decorations) in Austria. Sample warehouses were located in Vienna, Berlin, Hamburg, Paris, London, Brussels, Milan and Madrid, which soon gave the products a worldwide reputation. The glass ingeniously imitated all kinds of onyx, jasper, carnelian, malachite, lapis lazuli, inlaid glass, etc. At the 1888 anniversary exhibition, the "Kaiser Franz Josefs Vase", designed by Hofrat Storck and produced by the Lötz company in Grauonyx, was presented. It was the largest blown glass vase ever made up to that time. Most world exhibitions were loaded with the company's special products and received the highest distinctions.