Loetz Vase Franz Hofstötter PG 358 ca. 1900

The small vase of exceptionally compact proportions, with a rounded base and a square mouth, bears the décor Phänomen Genre 358, designed by Franz Hofstötter for the Paris World’s Fair. The design is characteristic of his stylized, nature-inspired compositions that evoke simplified landscapes.
The glass is constructed with a thin opal underlay and a colorless outer layer, broadly threaded with colorless-veined silver-yellow and irregularly drawn. Beneath the rim, an orange-red applied layer with traces of silver-yellow is drawn into short tongues, while above the base a dark brown application with silver-yellow rises in similar tongue-like forms. The iridescent surface with the horizontal bands of color, dark at the base and transitioning through bluish and yellow tones to glowing red, reinforce the impression of a distant horizon beneath a radiant sky.