Loetz Jugendstil inkwell. Austria, ca. 1905

LOETZ Jugendstil inkwell; Austria, ca. 1905.
Iridescent blown glass.
Iridescent blown glass inkwell from the Austrian Manufacture Loetz. The body is of quadrangular form in black iridescent glass, decorated with an openwork side moulding with vegetal decoration, borders and a lid with a gilt-bronze lion's head.
Provenance: Private Spanish collection, formed between 1970 and 2010.
Normal wear and tear from use and age. There is a slight chipping under the metal case, not noticeable to the eye.
Measurements: 4,5 x 12 x 12 cm.
Johann Loetz Witwe was the most important maker of art glass in Klostermühle, Bohemia. The works of Johann Loetz are among the most outstanding examples of Art Nouveau. One of the oldest glassworks was located in Wottawattal, which was bought in 1850 by Johann Loetz, the founder of the company and former owner of glassworks in Deffernik, Hurkental, Annatal and Vogelsang. In 1879, Max Ritter von Spaun, grandson of Johann Loetz, took over the factory from his grandmother and continued to run it under the old company name "Joh. Lötz Witwe". The factory had previously been equipped with an important milling workshop. It was here that heavily cut glass and perforated enamelled intermittent glass was manufactured. The company began producing coloured glass in the 1860s. Loetz glass has always been special because of its purity and fiery colours, and was initially purchased as raw glass by the North Bohemian refineries, which refined it by painting and polishing. Later, due to the high regard for glass, the company started the production of special luxury items. The company was the first to produce so-called baroque glass (objects with applied glass decorations) in Austria. Sample warehouses were located in Vienna, Berlin, Hamburg, Paris, London, Brussels, Milan and Madrid, which soon gave the products a worldwide reputation. The glass ingeniously imitated all types of onyx, jasper, carnelian, malachite, lapis lazuli, inlaid glass, etc. At the anniversary exhibition in 1888, the "Kaiser Franz Josefs Vase", designed by Hofrat Storck and produced by the Lötz company in Grauonyx, was presented. It was the largest blown glass vase ever made. Most of the world exhibitions were filled with the company's special products and received the highest awards.