Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => Bohemia, Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic, Austria => Topic started by: rocco on August 03, 2013, 04:17:57 PM
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Not an easy one ;D
Fabulous vase I aquired recently, 24 cm (9.5 inches) high; quite massive, weight around 4 kg.
Bubbly inner layer, swirling multicolour decor, thick clear casing.
So -- who dares a guess?
Michael
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I'll start with a country guess :) could it be German..?
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Not German ;)
(But that is what I thought, too, when I spotted it -- reminded me a little of some fabulous Wiedmann pieces).
Next hint: it is signed to the base.
Michael
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Interesting :)
It reminds me a little of some Ladislav Oliva designs, however, I suppose then it wouldn't be signed. How about Nuutajarvi Notsjo..? - By the way very nice piece of glass indeed. :)
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Thanks, Greg -- yes, really nice piece :)
I can see why you thought of Ladislav Oliva....
No, it is not Finnish either.
Michael
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im going to have a silly guess because i haven't a clue.
isle of wight
stew
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Nothing silly about it. ;)
It does remind of some Michael Harris' designs, too (the swirling pattern, the metal salts inclusions).
But it is not...
Michael
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Well Weidmann and Oliva and Harris have been discounted - so I'll have a couple of complete stabs in the dark...
Mike Hunter? (He can do so many fabulous things with glass - this vase would not be an impossible feat for him.).
Allistair Malcolm? (Again, a man full of surprises and incredible talent.)
But you're in Austria, unlikely to have come across either of these contemporary british makers, particularly in the secondary market. ;)
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We are getting closer (but not country-wise) ;D
Studio glass is the right direction.
Next hint (actually two hints): it has an interesting provenance -- it was once part of the Dittrich glass collection ("Sammlung Dittrich"), major parts of which were auctioned a few years ago.
Michael
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It looks fabulous...I need a guess, how about.. something obscure from Per Lutken?
John
Well, it was a guess!
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Norway?
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Alina Woloska - Poland mid eighties? (Spelling likely to be incorrect)
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More south, John ;)
Googling "Sammlung Dittrich" will give a few hints (but also in the wrong direction -- I bought a second piece from that collection which is German).
Adam -- time frame is probably right (mid seventies to eighties), but still more south...
edit: googling "Alina Woloska" doesn't come up with anything -- if she does pieces like this I shall try to track down a few pics of her work...
Michael
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Further south than Venice?
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Czech? my geography is not very good.
Chris
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North of Venice -- Czech is very close ;D
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Reich Vienna?
m
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Austria, Jindrich Beranek maybe.....
Robert
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We have a winner! :D
Robert is right -- Jindra Beranek it is.
And probably the best piece I have ever seen from him.
Son of Emanuel Beranek, he designed for Skrdlovice in the 1950s, and escaped to Austria in the 1960s to found his own glass studio. For those who are not familiar with his work (and for collectors outside of Austria it is quite impossible to come across one of his pieces) here is some more info: http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,38105.0.html (http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,38105.0.html)
Another great piece by him on the Fischer auction site: >> Link (http://www.auctions-fischer.de/kataloge/online-kataloge/193-i-europaeisches-glas-und-studioglas-sowie-die-studioglassammlung-kirchhoff.html?kategorie=22&artikel=1826&L=&cHash=20e1227008)
And I found >> this ebay auction (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jindra-Beranek-2x-Glas-Objekt-Vase-Aschenbecher-/350745095429?pt=Glas_Kristall&hash=item51aa096d05) of a quite common design by him, strongly influenced by 1950s Skrdlovice.
It shows a very interesting "certificate" (I will translate it later for the non German speakers)
Pic of the signature attatched.
And some of his other pieces in my collection.
Thanks for taking part! :)
Michael
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It's a lovely piece Rocco - but I do love that one in the Fischer auction with the amethyst interior...that's gorgeous.
Great and unusual collection!
m
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Thanks, m.
That piece in the Fischer auction is phantastic, and -- similar to my piece -- quite advanced to most of his other pieces I see.
As promised, here is my rather crude translation of the "certificate" (including a short biography) which seems to have come with his pieces originally.
ebay pics >> here (http://www.kunsthandel-hagedorn.de/sites/default/files/imagecache/sizethickbox/IMG_3635.JPG) and >> here (http://www.kunsthandel-hagedorn.de/sites/default/files/imagecache/sizethickbox/IMG_3636.JPG).
A little more information than we had previously...
Certificate
Each piece from our glass atelier is designed, mouth-blown and hand made by Jindra Beranek.
The pieces are free shaped and thus vary in size, shape and decor.
Each unique piece has a ground out base and is marked with the signature J. Beranek.
With these individual pieces we try to meet the desire of many people who try to avoid serial production and search for the unique.
Glass Hut:
7431 Bad Tatzmannsdorf
Mitterfeldstr. 21
Sale:
1060 Wien,
Barnabitengasse 6
Tel....
Jindra Beranek was born in 1927 in Polevsko, CSSR.
In his father's glasswork in Skrdlovice he learned to make and blow glass.
After studying Glass enamelling and etching at Prof. Libensky, he run the master workshop at his father's plant. In 1957 he joins the national company Borske Sklo as master glass maker.
In 1955 he was called to be part of the Abitur classification commission at the national glass school Zelezny Brod, as well as the national commission for evaluating the dissertation work at the university for applied arts, Prague, department Prof. Libensky.
In 1969 he moved to Austria, where he starts to work at the sheet glass workshop Ignaz Dürr in Vienna.
In 1971 he becomes master glass maker at Wilhelm Zimmermann, where he finds the opportunity to produce free shaped and modelled glass objects.
In 1973 he goes to Stoob, where he builds and manages, at the area of the school for ceramics and oven manufacture, the first experimental glass oven in cooperation with the Lobmeyr company.
In 1976 he opens his own atelier in Bad Tatzmannsdorf, and in 1977 a show- and sales room in Vienna.
In 1979 he builds a new glass hut in Mitterfeldstraße, Bad Tatzmannsdorf.
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A great piece. As Michael knows, Jindrich Beranek usually seems to have made smaller pieces. This is the largest I have known sold recently. He was an important influence in Austrian Studio glass and was highly respected during his career, working at times with Lobmeyr studios. When he left Czechoslovakia, he left with a guy who would become one of Lobmeyr's most famous engravers, they both escaped to Vienna. I also heard that Jindrich has a son who is now a glassmaker in Austria, but I have not seen definite evidence of his work.
I do like the Emanuel Beranek influenced pieces by Jindrich. I have an unsigned multi coloured one of these three pocketed small rounded vases you have shown a link to. Exactly the same but I bought it from the Czech Republic. the three pocketed version seems a Jindrich design not in the patterns but developed from the Emanuel style of glass. As mine is unsigned, multi-coloured but identical I am left confused as to who made it.....
This piece of yours Michael suggests a special production and as a maker, Jindrich seems to have made smaller pieces more often for practical reasons and these more time consuming challenging pieces certainly seem more scarce. Even in these complex large pieces though, elements of Skrdlovice seem to survive and it seems his early training really was crucial to his later glassmaking style in all areas. He is under appreciated at the moment and deserves more exposure and discussion.
Robert
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Robert, thank you so much for the additional information on Jindra Beranek!
I too think that his work is underestimated...
What was new to me in the certificate is the fact that he had a sales room in Vienna, which explains that his pieces can easily be found locally.
The Skrdlovice influence is often visible in his work IMHO, sometimes in a subtle way like in this vase (Greg was very good when he mentioned Ladislav Oliva at the very beginning of the thread), sometimes getting a little too close to the "originals", like in >> this Vizner whirlpool copy (http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,47490.msg287497.html#msg287497), or when he repeats 1950s Emanuel Beranek designs -- but always masterly executed.
A sort of “signature shape”, which seems unique to him, is the pink one I showed above with the purple blobs. Can be found without any decoration, with bubbles (like some >> here in Dusan’s gallery (https://picasaweb.google.com/exat53/JindrichBeranek)), with streaky patterns etc.
Robert, if you like, please do post pics of your multicolour vase -- I may be able to tell if it is his work or not.
I saw a few of his 3-openings vases which were unsigned; the big circular polished pontil is the dead giveaway...
And by accident I found another vase by him today, small piece at 10 cm height, lovely pink opalescence with white powder stripes :D
Plus a pic of a brown bowl which I sold some time ago.
OT: the sellers I bought my tall vase from had several stunning pieces of art glass from the Dittrich collection for sale; most of them were cut pieces in a real Czech studio style, some of them signed, but as I am not so much into cut cubes (and honestly didn't recognize many of them) I went for this one, and a very good German vase.
Michael
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Interesting post Michael. Jindrich Beranek produced so much glass, I think it could be years before online collectors build up a full picture of his output. Being in Vienna seems to be one of the best places to find his stuff, for reasons you have explained.
The Vizner whirlpool is a mystifying piece, just done seemingly to prove he could produce it or something!!!! Dating it seems really difficult! The fifties Skrdlovice style pieces like your bowl indicate a real love for that era of glassmaking that he seems to be fondly remembering. Leaving your homeland under such stress much create complicated emotions. The Skrdlovice influence never left him, I don't think.
To quote myself, "I do like the Emanuel Beranek influenced pieces by Jindrich. I have an unsigned multi coloured one of these three pocketed small rounded vases you have shown a link to. Exactly the same but I bought it from the Czech Republic. the three pocketed version seems a Jindrich design not in the patterns but developed from the Emanuel style of glass. As mine is unsigned, multi-coloured but identical I am left confused as to who made it....."
I have seen Jindrich pieces of the same small size and bigger with three pockets, in single clourways: rosalin pink, crystal (and maybe light blue). I am pretty sure not all were signed or had polished concave pontil rod marks. I have one Jindrich piece with a flat base. This is another piece of glass, my 3 pocketed piece from the Czech Republic. I have seen perhaps 50 of these Emanuel pieces and all have been pattern book items. For this not to be a pattern book one, matching Jindrich beranek pieces at the same time, makes me cautious about attribution. Either seems possible to me. It is nice either way! I bought it, sold as a paperweight.
Robert
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Thanks for posting the pics, Robert!
Interesting (and very nice) little piece.
I saw a lot of the single coloured 3-pocket vases by Jindrich Beranek, but only one multicolour one; it was quite small, had the circular polished pontil mark and was signed (or else I would have been sure it was a Skrdlovice piece).
Among the 30 or 40 pieces by him I have seen in the past, none had a flat base as far as I remember (which doesn't mean of course that this base finish may be found, too).
And only a few were unsigned, mostly the single coloured 3-pocket vases, which are easy to identify even without the engraved signature.
So if yours doesn't have the engraved "J. Beranek" and neither a polished pontil mark, I would rather think Skrdlovice production.
Michael
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Another beautuful Jindra Beranek vase added to my small collection, the most complex I have seen so far. :)
22.5 cm high, yellowish bubbly layer, then 4 dark (blue-brown) leaf-shaped elements, surrounded by multicoloured opaque heavily veined "leaves", the whole thing thickly cased in colourless glass.
Signed "J. Beranek", and an old prize tag, saying "5.200,-". Currency has to be Austrian Schillings = about 380,- Euro now (was worth more then ;D), so quite expensive in its days...
Michael
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Glorious :o
m
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Yes, isn't it...
Jindra Beranek was a master glass blower obviously.
My pics don't do the piece justice unfortunately, the 3D effect is stunning in real life.
Michael
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Wow, that is beautiful!
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Another nice Jindrich Beranek vase, similar technique with bubbly inner layer and swirling abstract multicolour pattern.
Smaller than the other two, at a height of 16 cm.
Signed to the base "J. Beranek".
Thanks for looking :)
Michael
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:P
This is just getting depressing. I am in so much lust with these pieces, and I don't possess any of them.
I shall work on being happy for those of you who do, but it might take me a few days. ::)
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Sorry Sue for showing off ;)
This is Jindrich Beranek's "top range" I think.
The vase I showed on the previous page (with the pink and green veined leaves) is one of the favourite pieces of my entire collection.
But it is just a geographical advantage for me, as Jindra Beranek seems to have sold his glass mostly locally.
My chances to find a Sam Herman piece here in Vienna are close to zero ::)
Michael
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They're not that high in Dundee either!
;)
I'm delighted to see all the Beraneks finally getting the recognition they so richly deserve. ;D
I thought they were wonderful when I picked up my first load of Beranek "Tropical Flowers" in TKMaxx many, many moons ago. I've been waiting,
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Wonderful, Michael... I like your newest piece even more than the purply one. Lucky you!
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It's lovely.
I still love the pink and green veined one though - it reminds me of butterfly wings :)
m
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Thanks! :)
The butterfly wings design is my favourite, too.
If I ever manage to make some space on my sideboard, I will display all three together...
Michael
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I thought I show a different style of Jindra Beranek's work here: a dish, 24 cm dia and a bit more than 5 cm height. It was bought in 1983 at his workshop in Bad Tatzmannsdorf.
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Thank you very much for showing, Wolf!
Beautiful piece.
Michael