Can you tell me about this vase?
This vase was designed by Josef Hoffmann, who worked in Vienna at the turn of the century. He helped found a collective of craftsmen and designers called the Weiner Werkstätte, which focused on unifying art and manufacturing. This style of glass decoration, with matte black geometric deigns on a frosted ground, was known as "Bronzit". Hoffmann's design was produced by Loetz Witwe, one of the best glass manufacturers in Europe.
Can you tell me more about this?
This vase was produced for and sold by the Wiener Werkstätte, an artists cooperative in Vienna that sold hand-made objects and furniture. It was designed by the Austrian Josef Hoffmann in 1912 and manufactured in the Czech Republic, a center of glassmaking for centuries. The curving, nature-inspired forms express the Art Nouveau style then so popular in Europe.
Is the Czech Republic still a center for glass design and manufacture?
It looks like there has been a resurgence of glass art in the Czech Republic since the fall of Communism there.