Topic: 1970's Beranek Pop Art Vase by Jan Exnar & Early 2000's Vase

[Timosarp1926]

Thought I'd show a piece w/o requesting ID help:)!  My understanding is that the green Beranek labels were used from sometime in the 70's until the switch to the red labels and the creation of the Czech Republic.  Odd twist to the Exnar piece is that once I brought it home I noticed a foul odor.  In the course of cleaning it found a long-since deceased mouse in the bottom.  No idea who designed the newer piece. 


Jeff

[bOBA]

Hi, nice pieces. The Exnar is really desirable. The Juda vase is good too, both labels indicate a post 1993 Beranek SRO production of older Skrdlovice designs. The red label issue is about Skrdlovice labels not Beranek Glass SRO labels. The Beranek labels were only made after Skrdlovice stopped after the fall of communism and the new company emerged, Beranek SRO. But both these vases are Skrdlovice designs I think that continued being made after Beranek SRO started making glass in a very similar way to Skrdlovice, essentially they were the same tradition on the same site, the Exnar vase may actually be a Beranek SRO pattern, but this is of small significance it is a quality design,

Robert (bOBA)

[Anik R]

Both vases are great! The Juda is one of those pieces that is so much better in real life than in photos. The Exnar is simply fabulous. I do believe he was a man with a great sense of humour.

Thank you for sharing, Jeff!

[Timosarp1926]

Robert and Anik,

Thank you for your thoughtful and informative comments.  Robert, regarding the dating I certainly realize that company labels are a mixed blessing and far from authoritative but the person from whom I bought the Exnar piece indicated he bought the piece in Prague in the late 70's or early 80's at the latest.  Given the nominal price I don't think he was trying to mislead me and indicated it was his only trip to the country.  Also, while again labels are not definitive, wasn't the use of labels indicating Hand Made in Czechoslovakia discontinued after the formal division of the country in 1993? 

Again I appreciate the feedback and look forward to subsequent discussions.

Jeff

[bOBA]

The green labels did not exist until 1992.  The ram symbol did not exist before then. The exact date of transition to Beranek, spme time after 1991 is a bit complicated. You can visit the defunct Beranek website and view their history. Labels before this time had Skrdlovice UR as part of the communist governed system of factories.

The story of the changeover to the Ram symbol labels is still viewable on the now defunct Beranek website.
"And it was not before 1992, when the glassworks’ ownership was transferred back onto the family, that he could hand the firm down to his son and its current owner Vlastimil Beránek, studio glass artist and an academic painter."

Your label, as it states Czechoslovakia, can only come from 1992-1994. No other explanation is possible. This does not however indicate the exact date of the death for the poor mouse, which could be more recent.

Robert (bOBA)