Not for sale - NZ stock which may be affected by 22-Feb earthquake

The mystery of this piece is now solved.  Mark Hill, (www.markhillpublishing.com) has just published the catalog for Hi Sklo Lo Sklo, an exhibition of Czech glass from the 1950s to the 1970s which we highly recommend.  He's helped us to identify this vase, which we've owned for some years, as being from from the 'Albatros' range designed by Milan Metelak for Harrachov.  He tells me it's "the largest I have ever seen from that range -- and I have only ever seen three examples of this range in the past five years. We only had two examples in the exhibition."

It's a tall beak vase - 38cm (15 inches).  We knew it was a special piece but we've had years of not knowing who designed or made it.   The skill involved in making this vase was considerable. How do you run those threads of glass from the base to the top and keep them looking even?  Compare the complexity and precision of these threads with the much simpler pattern of threads on a nice, but much more basic piece on our sister-site - Rare Scandinavian 1950s sommerso vase unusual yellow color with purple internal threading

Presumably, while this process was being carried out, the vase was not as long and thin as it would end up, but even so, it's a tour de force. Bear in mind how the sommerso technique was executed. The vase - still attached to the blowpipe at what would later become the top - will have been repeatedly dipped in clear glass to create the start of the heavy crystal base, before the threads were added. Then more clear glass will have been added to create the rest of the base. I can't work out how they would do it, but obviously they can. Magnificent!

Metelak was one of the developers of Harrtil glass.  He was head designer at Harrachov from 1955 until 1989.  The Albatros vases date from the late 50s.

Height: 38cm (15 inches)
Width: 8cm
Weight: 1.3kg
Condition: Mint

Share on Facebook

Our Reference: 649

This item is not for sale

We only sell beautiful glass