* HALLMARK DESIGN: HEAVY SKRDLOVICE BRIGHT BLUE & TRANSPARENT VASE, DESIGNED BY JAN BERANEK IN 1959

VERIFIED SELLER; 100% POSITIVE RATINGS : BUY WITH PEACE OF MIND

A CLASSIC AND HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER 'HALLMARK DESIGN': STUNNING AND VISUALLY IMPACTFUL

MAGNIFICENT & HEAVY ŠKRDLOVICÉ BRIGHT BLUE AND TRANSPARENT VASE, DESIGNED BY THE FAMOUS JAN BERÁNEK (1933-) IN 1959

A RARE COLLECTOR'S ITEM WITH FANTASTIC OPTICAL QUALITIES

Rare hand-made art glass from behind the Iron Curtain : a unique opportunity to acquire your very own, very beautiful piece of 20th Century European History!

>> please scroll down for images, description, details and postage <<

‘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 : with armies of collectors internationally now snapping up the magnificent items produced by them, their high-quality art glass is becoming both harder to find and more collectable by the day.

The form, visual and physical weight, optical effects created by the applications and use of transparent glass are typical of production at Škrdlovice during the late 1950s and 1960s.

- Model : 5988 (see archival image at the end)

- Height : 225 mm

- Weight : 1,790 kg

- Produced by the Skrdlovice Glass factory

- Vintage glass : minor and insignificant age-related indications of wear at the bottom : excellent condition

PRICE BENCHMARK : A vase of similar design (23cm) sold for R5,750 on 28 October 2014 at Stephan Welz & Company (lot 786)

LITERATURE

Bevan-Jones, Robert and Parik, Jindrich (authors); Hill, Mark (general editor). Škrdlovice & Beránek: Legends of Czech Glass, 2014, 128 pp (similar examples reproduced on pages 42 and 43; also see image at the end where this design is highlighted as a 'hallmark design'). Highly recommended reading!

* Shipping costs are R80 via SA Post Office (tracked), R140 via Postnet and R225 via courier.

* The item will be packed to withstand an earthquake! 

* Please do have a look at my other Czech art glass items on offer : simply click on 'Bookfinder' (top right of the screen). 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

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.

* Please note that glass from the mid-20th century is vintage glassware and age related signs of wear such as small fine surface scratches/marks should be expected. The items are hand-made, they may have imperfections such as bubbles, inclusions and lumps within the glass. Tool marks from where they have been shaped and worked in the manufacturing process can often be seen. As this indicates authenticity and forms an inherent part of the character of handmade crystal glass, these are normally not considered as faults by collectors.

* The images provided form part of the description. 

* This magnificent vase is an original and rare, hand-made Czech art glass vase (and not Italian Murano, Daum, Kosta Boda, Orrefors, Flygsfors, Swarovski, Leerdam, Val St Lambert or Lalique studio glass). I personally sourced & imported this beauty from the Czech Republic for my own private collection.

* Appreciation and acknowledgement to Messrs Mark Hill and Jindrich Parik for their invaluable archival and reference material. 5A