Loetz vase with etched decor Hans Bolek ca. 1915

In 1909 Adolf Beckert, known for his etched glass designs, was appointed artistic director of the glassworks Johann Loetz-Witwe. He invited some of the most important designers of the time to draft glasses for the Werkbund exhibition in 1914. Among them was the architect Hans Bolek, who supplied 17 designs for this exhibition.

This small bowl with the striking decor “Opal with Black” falls into the group of multi-layered overlay glasses with etched decoration. Here too, the colourless glass is underlaid inside with opal white and overlaid outside with black. The typical heart motif with the double tip was etched out of the black overlay. The background of the ornament is formed by ice glass.

Bolek places the heart leaf frieze on the lower part of the vase. Vertical lines divide the wall, which opens upwards, into a decorative plant ornament and a geometric linear part.