More than 90 stunning photographs in this catalog highlight the most spectacular items from the original exhibition, Bohemian Boudoir: Czech Vanity Glass. Luxurious perfume bottles are complemented by powder boxes, dresser sets, and vanity accessories made in the 1920s and 1930s from glass or crystal. Many are etched, carved, and cut in vivid colors ranging from crystal clear to malachite green, lapis blue, coral, aqua, ruby
The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library is nationally and internationally
red, onyx, and more, displaying the
renowned for extraordinary exhibitions
artistry of the “golden� interwar
and experiences telling stories of
period in Czechoslovakia.
freedom and identity, family and community, human rights and dignity.
Vanity set featuring perfume bottle with rose stopper, atomizer bottle, and round powder jar, Vogel & Zappe
Art Direction/Design Eric Johnson, Jodi Hormann Curator Stefanie Kohn Curator Stefanie Kohn WDG Communications, Inc. Editor Gail Naughton Editor Gail A. Naughton Cedar Rapids, Iowa Creative Direction Duane Wood Creative Direction Duane Wood Design and Art Direction Eric C. Johnson and Jodi Hormann Photography Mark Tade, Iowa City, Iowa WDG Communications, Inc. WDG Communications Inc.,Typography Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids, Iowa Photography Mark Tade, Iowa City, Iowa This volume has been published in conjunction with the exhibition, Bohemian Boudoir: Czech Vanity Glass held at the National & Slovak Museum & Library with in Cedar Rapids, Iowa from April 23 to July 17, 2016. This volumeCzech has been published in conjunction the exhibition, Bohemian Boudoir: Czech Vanity Glass held at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids, The catalog was made by17, support Iowa from Aprilpossible 23 to July 2016. from The Czech/Slovak Genealogy Interest Group of Bellevue, Washington in honor of Rosemary Bodine.
The catalog was made possible by the Czech/Slovak Genealogy Interest Group in Bellevue, PublishedWashington, by the National Czech &Scott Slovak Museum & Library, Dan Bodien, Bodien, Marjorie Bianco2016. and Bob Vernon and Peter and Betty Bengston in honor of Rosemary Bodien and by Western Fraternal Life Association All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission publisher. Published from by thethe National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, 2016. Copyright © 2016 National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, in any or byby any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, First published inor the United States ofform America recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library 1400 Inspiration Place SW Copyright © 2016 National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library Cedar Rapids, IA 52404 319.362.8500 First published in the United States of America by National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library 1400 Inspiration Place SW Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cedar Rapids, IA 52404 Bohemian319.362.8500 Boudoir: Czech Vanity Glass -- First [edition]. pages cm Issued in connection with an exhibition held April 23, 2016-July 17, 2016, National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Cataloging-in-Publication on file with the Library of Congress ISBN 000-0-0000000-0-0 (alk. Data paper)
ISBN 978-0-9826138-6-3 (alk. paper) 1. AA0000.00000A0 2016 000.090—dc00 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
0000000000
Printed in the United States of America
2
10 9 8 7 6 5On 4 3the 21
cover: perfume bottle in cornucopia shape, Josef Schmidt
(5.5 x 5.5 in.)
Perfume bottle with metal and “jewel” accents, Josef Schmidt (5.5 x 4.75 in.)
1
Perfume bottle with metal and “jewel� decorations, Johann Umann (4.5 x 2.5 in.)
FOREWORD by Gail Naughton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
INTRODUCTION by Curator Stefanie Kohn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
GLASS HOUSES Johann Umann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Josef Schmidt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Heinrich Hoffman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Henry Schlevogt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 František Halama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Vogel & Zappe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Orphans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
GLOSSARY & BIBLIOGRAPHY
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3
Perfume bottle with cupid motif, Schlevogt, 1930s (6.25 x 3.75 in.)
4
Gail Naughton President and CEO National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library
It is a pleasure to present an exhibition
1920s and 1930s a number of glass houses
catalog for Bohemian Boudoir: Czech Vanity
revolved around producing boudoir items
Glass, held from April 23 to July 17, 2016
for a mass market that was hungry for stylish
in the Smith Gallery. More than 90 brilliant
items. Almost all of these glass houses are
photographs in this volume highlight the most
gone today due to collectivization under
spectacular items in the original exhibition,
Communism. So these items are precious
which featured over 200 pieces from our
examples of art glass created during the
collection. The publication of this catalog
short “golden” time between wars before
is the culmination of a goal to document
Czechoslovakia was plunged into the dark
the museum’s permanent collections to make
days of World War II.
them more accessible to a broader audience. It also meets our desire to connect people
Bohemian Boudoir: Czech Vanity Glass is
of all backgrounds to Czech and Slovak
generously sponsored by the Czech/Slovak
history and culture, which is our mission.
Genealogy Interest Group in Bellevue,
Artifacts of such charm, as well as utility,
Washington, Dan Bodien, Scott Bodien,
cross all boundaries of ethnic culture and
Marjorie Bianco and Bob Vernon and Peter
represent our shared desire for beauty in
and Betty Bengston in honor of Rosemary
our everyday lives.
Bodien and by Western Fraternal Life Association in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I am
There is another important reason for
grateful to Stefanie Kohn, curator of the
documenting these items. Building upon
exhibition, and to our dedicated staff who
the long history of glass and crystal artistry
helped with the myriad tasks related to creating
and production in Bohemian lands, in the
this brilliant original exhibition and catalog.
b 5
Stefanie Kohn Curator National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library
Brilliant perfume bottles, powder boxes,
brushes, cigarette boxes, lighters, clocks,
dresser sets, and vanity accessories stand
trays, powder boxes, and vases, mostly from
out as some of the most stunning objects in
the time period of the 1920s and 1930s.
the collection of the National Czech & Slovak
All are made from glass or crystal, and many
Museum & Library. Comprising the Ladd
are etched, carved and cut. The vivid colors
and Lydia Straka Loss Memorial Collection
range from crystal clear to malachite green,
of over 200 pieces of Czech vanity glass,
lapis blue, coral, aqua, ruby red, onyx,
they were donated between 2001 and 2015
and more.
by Rosemary “Rosie” Bodien in honor of her parents.
American consumers had a voracious appetite for Czech perfume bottles during
6
The majority of the exquisite collection is
the inter-war period when women were
featured in the exhibit Bohemian Boudoir:
exploring a new sense of freedom. After the
Czech Vanity Glass, making it a challenge
horrors of the First World War, young people
to select only about half of these beautiful
were determined to enjoy lives sprinkled
pieces for inclusion in the exhibition catalog.
with zest, glamour, and fashion. Women
Those pictured were chosen as wonderful
experimented with short skirts and short
examples of design and workmanship,
hair. These “Flappers” drank alcohol in
which showcase the variety of boudoir items
spite of (and maybe because of) Prohibition.
produced by six of the pre-World War II glass
They smoked, listened to Jazz, and “dated.”
houses in Bohemia. Perfume bottles take
Fashion cues came from Hollywood where
center stage, complemented by mirrors,
many movies featured the stars seated at
Rare dresser clock featuring motifs of Diana riding a deer, Heinrich Hoffman (3.0 x 2.75 in.)
lavish dressing tables crowded with beautiful
taken home and filled from a more utilitarian
bottles, jars, mirrors, and accessories. Fan
bottle. Small, inexpensive purse bottles could
magazines magnified the allure by picturing
be purchased at the store and filled with
the actresses at home in their sumptuous
a dram (1/8th of an ounce) of costly perfume.
boudoirs that mirrored the luxurious, albeit
The small amount made the expensive scent
make-believe, movie sets.
affordable and the little bottles were a charming accessory. These perfume bottles
To make things even more attractive, the
and the accompanying accessories were
quality of Czech boudoir glass was uniformly
affordable luxuries that brought beauty and
high and the prices relatively low with many
glamour into the lives of countless women.
of the bottles retailing for a dollar or two, and some costing as little as 50 cents. Department
The fascination for Czech vanity glass started
stores and drug stores sold bottles prefilled
for Rosemary Bodien when she was researching
with scent, or empty bottles that could be
her family genealogy. She purchased her first
7
Czech perfume bottle in an antique shop
State with her husband Dan. Rosie’s interest
in 1994 in Salem, Oregon, and the rest,
in genealogy, contra dancing, and travel led
as they say, is history. Over the next 20 years
to several cross country tours and frequent
Rosie amassed an impressive collection,
trips to the Czech Republic to visit newly
not just of vanity glass, but also of glass
discovered relatives.
Brychta figurines, Czech pottery and dolls. Active in Czech glass collector groups, she
Rosemary Bodien was an
wrote many articles for newsletters and other
enthusiastic and knowledgeable
publications. In 2014, an exhibition of her
collector and devoted friend
vanity glass and perfume bottle collection
to the National Czech & Slovak
was mounted at the Tacoma Museum of Glass.
Museum & Library. She was
Afterwards, she completed the donation of her exquisite collection to the NCSML.
thrilled with the planning of the Bohemian Boudoir exhibit but, sadly, passed away December 25, 2015, at age 72, before
Rosie was born in 1943 in Minnesota to
she could see the exhibit or catalog realized.
Ladd and Lydia (Straka) Loss. Ladd’s parents
The exhibition and catalog are presented with
emigrated from Bohemia in the 19th century,
respect, gratitude, and affection.
b
and Rosie’s family kept the connection to their heritage alive. A graduate of River Falls College, she taught fifth grade in the late 1960s, then in 1977 moved to Washington
Purse bottles, which were quite small, ranging from 2 to 3 inches high with plastic or metal caps that screwed on tightly to prevent leaking, Mid-20th century, Schlevogt
8
Hand mirror, Ingrid line, 1930s, Schlevogt (7.5 in. long)
Vanity set featuring monogrammed perfume bottle with sunflower stopper, atomizer bottle, and round pin box with sunflower motif, Vogel & Zappe
9
Atomizer with metal accents, Johann Umann (5.0 x 2.5 in.)
Atomizer, Johann Umann (4.25 x 2.75 in.)
10
In 1860, Johann Umann set up his first
shaped into flacons, sprayers, and complete
glass-cutting shop in Potočná, Bohemia.
toilet sets with full relief decorations and
He had previously worked at the Ferdinand
molded stoppers. Patterns included floral
Unger Glassworks. Umann received awards
motifs, fauna (butterflies, fish, spiders, and
for his chandelier glass and jewelry at the
parrots), female nudes, and geometric
world exhibitions at Vienna in 1873 and
patterns. The surface was often painted.
Philadelphia in 1876. He soon owned shops in Paris, London, and Berlin.
Umann House suffered during the economic decline of the 1930s and World War II. Its
In 1893, the firm operated the first glass-cutting
factories were in the Sudetenland, the part
shop for optical glass in Austria-Hungary.
of Czechoslovakia that was also home to
Before World War I, the firm was the largest
ethnic Germans. The Munich Agreement
in Bohemia’s Jizerské Mountains and employed
of 1938 ceded the Sudetenland to Germany.
300 people. The firm produced optically cut
After the war, most ethnic Germans were
prisms, chandelier decorations, thermometers,
expelled from Czechoslovakia. The post-war
inkwells, salt and pepper sets, flacons, imitation
Czechoslovak government, under the growing
diamonds, lenses for tail lights of bicycles and
influence of the communists, nationalized
trains, stereoscopes, and spectacle glass.
many of these privately owned companies. Umann House was incorporated into the
In 1926, a new direction began — art crystal
national enterprise Krystalerie.
b
ware, primarily bottles. Pressed glass was
11
Perfume bottle, cut glass, Josef Schmidt, circa 1935. The Morlee Company in the United States imported bottles from Czechoslovakia beginning in the 1920s (8.25 x 4.25 in.)
Josef Schmidt founded a glass-cutting shop
by French vanity glass. Later designs mimicked
for novelty crystal ware, small domestic glass
those of other companies, such as Schlevogt
pieces, and chandelier parts. Before the First
and Hoffman. Some Schmidt bottles featured
World War, the refinery was represented at
metal and imitation gemstone decorations.
prestigious Leipzig trade fairs and sold goods
It is believed that an exporter purchased
through retailers in Berlin, Paris, London,
the bottles from Schmidt and contracted with
Vienna, Hamburg, and Warsaw. In addition
other businesses to add the embellishments,
to a glass-cutting shop in Příchovice,
and then exported the finished bottles
Schmidt also operated factories in Kořenov
around the world.
and Harrachov, where 150 people were making chandelier glass, glass trimmings,
Although the global economic crisis of
ashtrays, saltcellars, flacon stoppers,
the 1930s and World War II severely affected
vases, and glass eyes for dolls. Later, the
the Josef Schmidt House, it was in operation
headquarters transferred to Dolní Polubný.
until 1945. At that time, because it was a German-owned company, it was nationalized
The earliest evidence of the addition of
by the post-war Czechoslovak government.
perfume bottles was in 1924. The company
In 1947, the brand name disappeared when
started to manufacture toilet bottles that
the factories became part of the national
featured stoppers in the shape of stylized
enterprise, Krystalerie, and the company
flowers and smoothly cut bottles with full
was later incorporated into the Gablonz
relief decoration. The patterns were influenced
glassworks.
b 13
Perfume bottle
Perfume bottle
Perfume bottle
with metal accents
with basket
with glass dauber,
and blue glass rose,
weave design,
Josef Schmidt
Josef Schmidt
Josef Schmidt
(6.0 x 5.0 in.)
(5.0 x 2.5 in.)
(6.5 x 3.0 in.)
14
Perfume bottle with metal and “jewel� accents, attributed to Josef Schmidt (5.0 x 2.75 in.)
15
Josef Schmidt House
16
Perfume bottle,
Perfume bottle with
Perfume bottle,
1940s (7.25 x 3.25 in.)
glass dauber, 1940s
cut glass, circa 1935
(7.25 x 8.5 in.)
(6.5 x 4.5 in.)
Perfume bottle with glass
Perfume bottle with
Perfume bottle,
and metal decorations,
metal accents, 1930s
circa 1935
1930s
(6.5 x 3.75 in.)
(9.5 x 4.0 in.)
(6.25 x 3.75 in.)
Perfume bottle with peacock motif on stopper. The bottle was purchased at O.H. Holmes Co., New Orleans. Josef Schmidt (5.0 x 2.75 in.)
17
Perfume bottle with geometric-shaped stopper, Heinrich Hoffman (4.75 x 1.5 in.)
18
Heinrich Hoffman learned to make pressed
bottle. Hoffman pieces are known for their
glass from his father, who owned a glass
expert workmanship, from the manufacture
jewelry-making company in Marschowitz,
of the molds to the actual pressing and final
Bohemia. By 1900, Hoffman operated glass
hand polishing.
firms in Paris and Jablonec, Bohemia, which produced high-quality, well-designed glass
Heinrich Hoffman produced some of the
products. Hoffman’s designs were inspired
most stunning perfume bottles during the
by art nouveau, art deco, and classical
Golden Age of glamour and prosperity.
mythology. Hoffman lived and worked in
Max Factor, makeup artist to the stars,
Paris while his wife Josephine ran the business
imported Hoffman bottles for his cosmetics,
in Jablonec.
and the eye-catching bottles and
Decorative box with dancing nymphs and Pan from mythology (6.75 x 3.5 in.)
jars made their way onto film During the 1920s, Hoffman invented a new
sets and into the boudoirs
technique for pressing glass. The design was
of Hollywood
pressed as a negative from the reverse side
celebrities.
b
into the glass, and then frosted. This type of manufacture is called intaglio cutting. Many of Hoffman’s stoppers showcase this technique. Another Hoffman trademark is the “nude dauber” which features an exquisitely wrought female nude suspended inside the
19
More than 90 stunning photographs in this catalog highlight the most spectacular items from the original exhibition, Bohemian Boudoir: Czech Vanity Glass. Luxurious perfume bottles are complemented by powder boxes, dresser sets, and vanity accessories made in the 1920s and 1930s from glass or crystal. Many are etched, carved, and cut in vivid colors ranging from crystal clear to malachite green, lapis blue, coral, aqua, ruby
The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library is nationally and internationally
red, onyx, and more, displaying the
renowned for extraordinary exhibitions
artistry of the “golden� interwar
and experiences telling stories of
period in Czechoslovakia.
freedom and identity, family and community, human rights and dignity.
Vanity set featuring perfume bottle with rose stopper, atomizer bottle, and round powder jar, Vogel & Zappe