Hmmm…Where to start. I am so fortunate that I know German. For if I wasn’t able to, I’d be misinformed like every other English language reader. I’m endlessly frustrated by the antique glass market in America. There is so much misinformation, thanks mostly to English language authors like the late Gary Baldwin, and the Truitts. 99.5% of my 4,500 volume research library is in German. I keep a handful of English language books, by the above referenced authors and a few others, for laughs.
I was building a class action lawsuit against Gary Baldwin for defrauding the public, but then he died. For starters, I was going to get the judge to order Baldwin to buy back every single copy of his first book on Moser glass, which contained many pieces that weren’t by Moser at all. Those pieces were silently excluded, without explanation, from his second book on Moser glass. He singlehandedly turned the antique glass market on its head. Antique Central European glass listed across all platforms is rife with misinformation. It drives me nuts.
I correct many listings on many platforms. I can only do so much, as it would be more than a full time job. There are a couple of prominent long-time glass sellers on eBay. Both are very arrogant, as the misinformation has been ingrained within them for many years. The one recently listed a Heckert Römer, as being by Moser (of course) in 1920. Rather, it was produced by Heckert, about 1883. I didn’t tell him that, but rather, said not Moser, not 1920, to see how he would respond. He didn’t respond.
The other has a Brautbecher decorated with an armorial bearing. He knows nothing about the piece. I offered to provide him with great detail about the piece, provided that he cite my eBay user name as the information source. I never heard back from him either, and don’t expect to. Citing my username as the information source is what I require of seller’s that I assist on eBay, Ruby Lane, ETSY, etc. Why? I have a wealth of information. It takes time to formulate the information tailored to a particular piece. I’m looking for name recognition for several projects that I’m working on: a book on the Heckert replicas mentioned in my last reply, for which I’ve cataloged 750 unique pieces to date, and counting. An identification source for Heckert/Josephinenhütte stemmed drinking vessels, via the stem/foot. And, the Josephinenhütte glass pattern books, as already mentioned. I just hope that I live long enough to see these products to fruition.
Back to misinformation/incorrect information. I say misinformation for I feel that the English language authors previously mentioned were purposely misinformed by Czech propagandists, and those authors didn’t bother to, or weren’t capable of fact checking what they were fed by the Czechs.
Now this is going to shock some people. By all rights, Bohemian glass should be referred to as German glass, because everything about it is German. The Germans taught Europe, and Russia, (and America) how to farm. It was the German intellect, ingenuity and craftsmanship of those that migrated to Bohemia to practice their craft, to make glass, as wood was plentiful there. (If you understand about wood during those times, you’ll understand why glass was made where it was made, until the use of natural gas to fire kilns came along). The majority of glasshouse documentation, civic records, etc., are in the German language. The names of the owners of most of the Bohemian glasshouses, the designers, etc., are Germanic: Egermann, Palme, König, Lenhardt, Hoffmann, Schreiber, Goldberg, Moser (a very common German name), Haertel, Beckert, Pohl, Pfohl, and many more. Where are all of the Czech names? There were so many Germans in western Bohemia, upwards of 35% of the population that it was referred to as the German half. But you’ll never hear that from any English language author, because they aren’t informed.
In Germany, a very clear distinction is made between German/Prussian/Bavarian/Silesian, or collectively German, and Bohemian glass, except for the dolts at the Passau Glass Museum. The Americans, on a large part, call everything Bohemian, citing it’s in the Bohemian style. No it’s not. It’s in the German style, for the reasons that I’ve stated. I’ll ask again: someone show me a map where any of the “German” glasshouses were located in Bohemia during their production periods. No takers to date.
Also consider this: The Heckert replicas that I mentioned, were modeled after originals found in prominent museums in Prussia, including imperial museums that were lent to Heckert for the purpose of copying them. Does anyone seriously believe that those museums would have lent that glass to a glasshouse in Bohemia during the late 1800’s? I think not.
Imagine the horror of waking one day to find out that your collection wasn't what you thought that it was, thanks to these authors (especially you "Moser" collector's - how much of your collection is actually from Moser, and not another glasshouse - you'd be surprised).
Okay, enough ranting for tonight.
Rolf-Dieter
Topic: Where does this beauty comes from? (Read 1662 times)
