Loetz Art Glass Vessel in a graceful tall Green Iridescent Glass made by Austrian - Bohemian Artist Johann Loetz Witwe circa 1900. Green with silver, blue and gold iridescent highlights showcase these fine graceful examples of Viennese Art Nouveau - Jugendstil. The vessel was mouth-blown and hand shaped by Austria’s premier glass studio which flourished in the late 1800s and very early 20th Century.
The vessel is 12 1/2 inches tall and 5 1/4 inches wide at the bud. It is in excellent condition.
The Loetz glassworks was started in 1840 in Klostermuhle, Austria, and produced fine art glass pieces for only 100 years. The company’s premier period was between 1879 until 1908 under the guidance of Max Ritter Von Spaun, grandson of the original founder Johann Loetz. During this time the company invented, designed and produced a whole series of new types of glass, taking out several patents and winning awards at all the major world exhibitions during the 1890's and early 1900s.
The Loetz company was one of the leaders in Art Nouveau - Jugendstil - iridescent art glass design which included “Papillon” glass, sometimes known as "oil spot" glass and “Phenomenon" glass with ribbons of metallic colors winding over the surface.
About 1900 the company started collaborating with outside designers, and some great artists designed pieces for Loetz, notably Joseph Hofmann, Koloman Moser, Maria Kirchner, Hofstatter, Adolf Beckert and Michael Powolny.
Loetz glass was rarely signed. There are excellent reference books, one by Helmut Ricke and two by Waltraud Neuwirth which help identify Loetz glass.