Topic: Josef Švarc - collection of cut flowers vases

[dirk.]

I wouldn´t mind if you hijacked this thread with your tray, Sue.  (you may have read this before - we
need a photo) 

The thistle is my favourite also and I´m really proud to have the plate and the bowl also; the first one
being one of my best ebay-BIN-bargains ever.
Still missing the round versions or the goblets though... 

[chopin-liszt]

  I suspected as much. I will have to dig it out from under all the stuff that sits on it, clean it up etc.

I shall drag my weary bones off to the kitchen... It would be so much easier if they were not so heavy!

 

[dirk.]

Ha! That´s close indeed. I think you´re right and they must have known the original design.
But perhaps like with other czech designs this one was sold or made under license? 

[chopin-liszt]

The flowers are completely different, it's not a copy, but the design itself is inspired by the Svarc original, it couldn't possibly be anything other than a tribute to it, could it?

That was why I bought it, because it was so like this famous and beautiful design.
It sits beside my kitchen sink, and I use it as a spill tray to hold my detergents and soap dishes and scrubby things. But the colour of the glass is not good. It is very yellow, which doesn't show up against the black background I used to show up the design.

Another huge difference is that my tray has a textured background, you can only make out a little of that in my pics, but it is there.

[dirk.]

Maybe they needed a slight modification for transferring it to another medium, but - I think more
likely you´re right and they just used the Svarc for inspiration. Nice to have it here for comparison
anyway. 

[bOBA]

Glass, including plates, decorated only with thistles, appear in Czech glass designed at this time, by Stahlikova and others but Svarc with his amazing cutting took the theme into new territory in my opinion. I have never seen the pressed dish before and agree it must be the Svarc thistles that largely inspired this design. I have a photo of a Svarc goblet, with two other Podebrady designs... The Svarc chargers are interesting as there seem to be numerous variations, almost all equally good too. I imagine he got a bit bored with exactly the same number of thistles etc. and developed and adjusted the design regularly, I like the look of the weight of that bowl design too Dirk, it looks monumental,

Robert (bOBA)

[dirk.]

Many thanks for your comment and picture, which I obviously missed to reply to. There even was
a jug with thistle cut on ebay lately; so it seems this motif was by far the most popular one I´d say.

Which leads to this latest find of mine, which would possibly have been the least item to spend some
serious money on if I had had to. It did however come as a flea-market find along with the benefits of a
therefore reasonable price.
Let it speak for itself. 

[chopin-liszt]

I'd happily give that a home...

 - despite it being a (shudder) basket. 

[dirk.]

Thanks, Sue.
Yes, it´s - special. 

[rocco]

I was about to write the same as Sue:
Very nice for a basket

BTW, I found this interesting info in CGR 1968/7: >> Link
(if the direct link doesn't work: page 328)

So is the thistle design by Josef Svarc AND Jirina Zertova?

Michael