* MAGNIFICENT CZECH ART GLASS CHARGER/PLATE BY FRANTISEK VIZNER (1936-2011): UNIQUE COLLECTOR'S ITEM

AN IMPRESSIVE AND VERY LARGE ŠKRDLOVICÉ COBALT BLUE CHARGER (PLATE/BOWL) WITH SPIRALS OF MICA FRAGMENTS, DESIGNED BY GLASS MASTER FRANTISEK VIZNER (1936-2011) IN 1976  

>> please scroll down for images and more info <<

This is a truly unique opportunity to acquire a world-class art glass item designed by Frantisek Vizner.

'... he has created a series of vessels that are among the most perfect objects ever made by human hands...'

(Glass Magazine, curator and critic William Warmus)

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Model number : 7627 (see archival image towards the end)

Diameter : 390 mm

Weight : a very hefty 4,040 kg

With original Škrdlovicé foil and paper export label in good condition (‘Bohemia Glass Made in Czechoslovakia').

The generic embossed foil label of Bohemia Glass was used from the 1950s-70s by Glassexport, the state-owned enterprise that sold all Czech crystal glass from the former Czechoslovakia.

LITERATURE

Bevan-Jones, Robert and Parik, Jindrich (authors); Hill, Mark (general editor). Škrdlovice & Beránek: Legends of Czech Glass, 2014, 128 pp (identical example with description reproduced on page 69).

Vintage condition : minor surface scratches and age-related signs of use at the bottom.

Shipping costs : R160 via PostNet, R225 via courier or collection in person (Cape Town)

Click on 'Bookfinder' (top right of screen) to see my other 100+ art glass items.

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VIZNER

In 2012 Frantisek Vizner was ranked amongst the top 10 in the list of the top fifty most influential artists of all times by the Studio Glass movement in the United States (GLASS: Feature in The Urban Glass Art Quaterly titled 'Fifty at Fifty: The artists from the first fifty years of Studio Glass who will remain most relevant for the next fifty years').

Vizner's work is represented in numerous museums, art galleries as well as public and private collections all over the world (including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; The Corning Museum of Glass, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery, Prague; National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; National Museum, Stockholm; Kunstmuseum, Dusseldorf; Musee des Arts Decoratif, Lausanne; Musee des Arts Decoratif, Paris; Chrysler Museum of Art, Virginia; etc)

(‘Beránek Glass’ was nationalised during communist rule in 1948 and became Škrdlovice glassworks. Ownership was returned to the Beránek family in 1992 when it became ‘Beránek Glass’ again. The factory closed in 2008 and no longer exists).

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BACKGROUND

Along with Scandinavia and Italy, Czechoslovakia was one of the leading European producers and exporters of glass across the world during the second half of the 20th Century. The 1950s-70s saw a renaissance in Czech glass design that confirmed and re-established the country's global reputation in this area.

From behind the Iron Curtain, highly talented and exceptionally skilled designers pushed the boundaries of 20th century glass design and produced unique art glass masterpieces that went on to inspire visually stunning ranges and exquisite works of art in sparkling glass.

Exported and sold around the world as ‘art glass for the home’, these modern and vibrantly coloured designs became enormously successful.

During the last five years or so international tastes and fashions have brought Czech post war art glass very much into vogue once again and hence the renewed appreciation of the glass hierarchy and the public alike.

Czech art glass has rapidly been becoming the latest highly sought after additions to prized art glass collections all over the world.

* I personally acquired this magnificent item from the Czech Republic. It is Czech art glass and not Italian Murano, Lalique, Val St Lambert, Leerdam, Kosta Boda, Orrefors or Daum studio glass.