Topic: Vicke Lindstrand Kosta vase help with numbering\signature

[glassobsessed]

Hi all,
I had the good fortune to find and buy for a song this Kosta vase recently (17cm tall). I have been able to work out which glassworks (Kosta - easy enough) and that it was hand formed by Vicke Lindstrand I think in the 50s (LH 1444). What I have not been able to find any information on is the "/27" inscribed under the rest of the signature - see second photo, would this refer to colour, shape or design or for some arcane reason just to wind up glass lovers?
Any help greatly appreciated, John.

[Ohio]

LH (hand-formed by Lindstrand) with the 1444 paces it within the 1958-59 time frame. Don't know what the /27 stand for unless its a style number. Ken

[langhaugh]

Nice find, no matter how much the song was worth! I assumed that the number after the main number indicated a variation of the model or series, like Orrefors does. For example, the variations in the Dusk series, have NU 3538 followed by a slash and then number. However, when I checked my Lindstrand's, none of them had that extra number, including a couple that have the same off-centre core. I wish there was a good book on Kosta codes, as I've mentioned a couple of times here.

David

[a40ty]

Good morning, congratulations on your beautiful vase!
 I have a small pastel  green ashtray LH 1128 with a slash followed by what looks like 27, it's very badly done, I wonder does the 27 mean green....

[glassobsessed]

Thank you all for your input on this question, my singing is terrible, thankfully my luck is better.
I did perform a search of the glassmessages board and elsewhere on this subject and had noticed that there seemed to be gaps in the information readily available. Hopefully at some stage we can find out a little more and come up with some answers though sometimes I think the 'chase' is as much if not more fun than the 'catch'. However, if anyone does have more information please do not let my sentiments stop you from posting an answer!
In hope and with thanks, John.

[Ivo]

I have it from a reliable source that the number following the slash refers to the year the item was designed (not produced).

[Ohio]

If it were an alpha designation & the piece was engraved it would refer to the pattern that was used for engraving. This is fairly common on Lindstrand Ice paperweights & on his Seaweed Vases that came with various engravings. The date source I use is below & it also appears in one reference, but nothing on the slash. You might try emailing Great Glass. Trying to find out exact info on Kosta is frustrating & It may take some time to pin it down though because it took me quite some time to find the date on a Kosta 627 vase that supposedly didn't exist. Kosta Sweden isn't all that great answering emails & I tried Kosta USA...took an email & a  phone call, but I did get connected with someone who contacted the factory & the historian put it on his list...took something like 8 months to get an answer & I had given up, but the info finally came through.   

http://www.great-glass.co.uk/glass%20notes/swedish.htm

[glassobsessed]

Thanks guys, I would be surprised if the vase was designed/conceived in 1927, then again, there was plenty of remarkably 'modern' design taking place in the 20s and 30s that still looks contemporary today (especially in architecture and furniture), so why not? I think Lindstrand may still have been a student in 1927, certainly a young man and probably full of design ideas.
I am not sure if I have the perseverance to contact the factory etc, sometimes mysteries can have their own magic. I have been speculating on what the code might mean. The /27 could refer to a good lunch that Lindstrand ate that day or the number of people who he greeted on the way to work, admittedly more than unlikely but still fun for me.
The part of me that likes to categorize and order would still like an answer though, perhaps that will overcome my laziness at a later date.
Thanks again, John.

[taylog1]

Swedish Glass Factories shows LH 1444 in the 1959 catalogue, so in principle were designed between late 1954 and late 1958. [interestingly the 1959 catalogue shows a load of BH [Elis Bergh] pieces, which were designed between 1929 and 1950, but not the Lindstrand ones].

I thought it might be height, but LH 1444 is shown as 180mm (LH 1445 235mm and LH 1446 300m).

LH 1444 apparently came in green and red, but there's nothing in the catalogue to suggest colour codes (as Orrefors used).

The only other observation I have is that occasionally in the catalogue it shows the volume of the vase in cc - 27 could be about right, though why they only mark a few is anyone's guess

Gareth

[glassobsessed]

That is an intriguing possibility, I will find some sort of measure tomorrow to check the volume of the vase, John.