1950s SEA Kosta sea anemone-like glass art object

It may be sacrilege to say so but I think I prefer this design to that of the more famous (and more expensive) Flysgsfors "Fantasia" design (see for example, Signed 1957 Flygsfors 4-fingered Fantasia glass art object). Both are a sea anemone-like art objects with no practical purpose except to be bizarre and beautiful.

Like the Fantasias, this has a number of "fingers", but in the Sea Kosta version each finger has a double tip. Both designs have layers of milk glass which give the coloured layers a pastel effect, and clear crystal bases. We suspect that the Flygsfors version came first, and that the SEA Kosta version is a later variation (in an era when intellectual property laws were less stringently enforced). They are an unusual and creative use of the sommerso technique, in which the coloured layers are "submerged" in clear glass.

This piece is unsigned but the design is clearly that of SEA, a Swedish firm based in the town of Kosta. On 50-year-old pieces of glass the sticky labels do not always survive, but when they do, they read "SEA Kosta" and for this reason they are often confused by Internet auction sellers with the more well-known firm of "Kosta" (which was later known as "Kosta Boda", and, just to complicate matters further, ultimately took over SEA).

There's also a degree of confusion between the three firms of SEA, DEK, and Ekeberga. DEK was "Dekor Etsning Kosta" (decor etching Kosta). SEA was formed in the 1950s by either a merger or takeover of DEK and Ekeberga. Naturally, it initially continued to make the successful designs of its predecessors. Designs which are sometimes marked SEA can also be found with the DEK or Ekeberga signatures.

We have another, larger version of this vase listed at Signed & stickered FA W Johansson finger vase. (Johansson appears to have been primarily a marketer of glass made by various Swedish firms.) The two would display well together.

Height: 19cm (7.5 inches)
Width: 9cm
Weight: 530g
Condition: light wear to the base aside from a 1mm and a 2mm fleabites and a 2mm shallow fleck from the rim of the base

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Our Reference: 2899

US $110.00 + shipping

Approximate price in other currencies:

NZ $132	EUR €84	JP ¥8,445
AU $102	SEK 740	CHF 101
GB £70	CA $110	ZAR 835

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