🌸The Lace and Luminescence Victorian Vase
🌸 The Secret Life of a Victorian Glow-Getter 🌸
Our story begins in the late 19th Century (circa 1885–1905). While glassmakers across the globe were competing to create the most beautiful Art Glass, the artisans in Bohemia (the historic glass-making region of the modern-day Czech Republic) were the undisputed masters of this specific satin look.
Because of the way this vase is crafted—with its solid pink colour (no white lining) and that very specific raised enamel painting—historians and collectors would attribute her to a Bohemian workshop, such as the famous Harrach or Franz Welz glassworks. These workshops were legendary for exporting these frosted pink beauties to fancy parlors all over the world.
👽The Secret Ingredient 👽
The glassmakers had a bit of a mad scientist streak! To make the pink color more vibrant under the yellow flicker of Victorian oil lamps, they added Uranium Oxide to the molten glass. They didn't know about blacklights back then, but they knew that uranium acted as a spectral brightener.
The result? A vase that looks like a soft, dusty rose by day, but reveals a glowing neon secret at its base whenever it catches a UV ray. This glow is the invisible signature of the era's chemistry.
The Glassmaker’s Touch
🌸 The Satin Finish🌸
To get that "frozen-in-time" texture, the vase was likely dipped in a bath of acid. This softened the glare of the glass until it felt like a velvet peach skin or a frosted windowpane.
🌸 The Crimp 🌸
See that ruffled rim? It was shaped by hand! A craftsman used tongs to pinch the hot, glowing glass while it was soft as taffy, giving her a collar that would have been very fashionable in a Victorian home.
The Artist’s Embroidery
🌸 Raised Enamel Florals 🌸
The tiny white blossoms are a classic Bohemian touch. They aren't just flat paint; the artist used a technique called "High-Relief Enamel," piping the paint onto the glass like icing on a miniature cake.
🌸 A Note for the Curator 🌸
Because this vase is most likely a Bohemian traveler, she’s a sturdy survivor of a long journey through time. She has no maker's mark—which was very common for pieces intended for export—but her accent (the enamel and the glow) speaks of the mountains and workshops of Central Europe. Despite her century-old adventures, she remains wonderfully free of chips and cracks. In other words, she's a timeless traveler ready to add a touch of history and a hint of magic to a new home.
✨ A Note on Hand-Blown Magic
Each piece of our hand-blown glass is a little work of art spun by human hands, not machines. As a result, you may find a tiny bubble here or a whimsical swirl there, like a little signature from the artisan who crafted it. These unique quirks aren’t flaws; they're little whispers that say, "I was made just for you, one of a kind." So embrace the perfectly imperfect charm of your piece!
🧚♀️A Little Note from the Antique Fairy
As with all vintage darlings, this piece has lived a life or two and may have a tiny surface scratch here or there as part of its story. I do my very best to capture any little whispers of wear in photos and notes. If you have any questions or just want to chat about this treasure, feel free to reach out! 😊