Loetz Vase Silberiris with snake decoration ca. 1903

Vase, Johann Loetz Witwe, Silberiris with snake decoration, ca. 1903

With its various forms and decorations, the Bohemian glass manufacturer Loetz not only demonstrated its sheer diversity within the production facility, but also made an independent contribution to the international development as well as presence of Art Nouveau glass with its artistic vases. With its rare, yet equally highly crafted, animalistic designs as well as zoomorphic figures and shapes, the glassblowing workshop made such a contribution to the form culture in the Art Nouveau movement.

The magnificent rainbow colors of the ” Silberiris” decoration are achieved with silver-yellow so-called powder fusions, which perfectly display their green-yellow to violet-blue iridescence on a colorless ground. The snake coiling four times around the neck of the vase, bears the same shimmering decoration as the vase itself.

The reduced form of the art object is particularly well suited for the reptile drawn from glass, covered with fine silver crumbs and then freely attached. This art and collectible piece is not only an outstanding piece within the production range of the house of Loetz itself, but also an instant eye-catcher in any room.

Bib.: Cf. A. Adlerova, E. Ploil, H. Ricke, T. Vlcek (ed.), Loetz – Böhmisches Glas 1880-1940, vol. I, Werkmonographie, Prestel publ., Munich 1989, p. 153.