Bohemian Crystalware / 11 septembrie / 18h00 / MNaR

Centrul Ceh, Muzeul de Sticla si Bijuterie Jablonec nad Nisou si Muzeul National de Arta al Romaniei, cu sprijinul Fortune group prezinta:

CRISTALURI DE BOEMIA
11 septembrie – 7 decembrie
Salile Kretzulescu ale MNaR

Cristalurile de Boemia reprezinta un fenomen unic in lume, a carui exclusivitate se bazeaza pe echilibrul dintre productia manuala si cea tehnologica, dar si pe procesul artistic unic. Cu alte cuvinte, singularitatea cristalurilor provine din faptul ca procedurile tehnologice folosite in productia lor pot fi utilizate pentru serii mai mari de obiecte, mai rapid si la preturi rezonabile, fara a exclude sticlarul din acest proces si fara pierdere de calitate in comparatie cu produsele similare de lux manufacturate. Nu este atunci surprinzator ca inventivitatea metodelor dezvoltate in zona muntelui Jizera de ingineri, ajustori si sticlari, dar si viziunea antreprenorilor si investitorilor locali au facut ca recipientele de parfum, calimarile si accesoriile de masa produse in acest fel sa fie cat mai prezente pe piata mondiala.

Din perspectiva productiei, cristalurile de Boemia s-au sprijinit intotdeauna pe doua aspecte fundamentale – calitatea sticlei si tiparele de metal facute cu precizie. Pasta de cristal care sa nu se decoloreze in prezenta luminii (a carei culoare sa ramana constanta) era deja prelucrata in secolul al XIX-lea in zona muntoasa Jizera. Aceasta pasta putea fi prelucrata cu usurinta prin suflare, presare sau turnare in tipare de metal. Produsele erau taiate manual si, de regula, doar re-taiate dupa presare, ceea ce facea ca pretul sa scada fara a afecta calitatea.
Actualmente deosebim doua tipuri de cristaluri de Boemia in functie de metoda de productie – prin taiere si prin presare. In vreme ce primul tip reprezinta, practic, sticla suflata, a carei forma este obtinuta cu ajutorul unui tipar, fiind apoi slefuita, al doilea tip se obtine prin presare folosind tipare cu cleste de presare. Oricum, chiar si in acest caz, creativitatea proiectului si experienta sticlarului reprezinta o componenta esentiala a procesului de productie, ceea ce face de fapt diferenta intre cristal si sticla presata comuna.

Cristalurile pot fi impartite in trei categorii de productie majore. Prima dintre acestea cuprinde flacoanele de toate tipurile, a doua categorie este cea a candelabrelor iar a treia include cristaluri in general; cu alte cuvinte, articole de birou (prese de hartie, calimari, rigle), articole de sticla decorative si utilitare, recipiente pentru bauturi, vaze etc. Piesele ornamentale au fost de asemenea incluse in categoria cristalurilor. Oricum, acestea au devenit o ramura de productie separata inainte de secolul al XIX-lea datorita cresterii vanzarilor.

FENOMENUL CRISTALURILOR DE BOEMIA
Origini. Evolutie. Actualitate.

1750-1850
Abia catre 1750 mesterii din muntii Jizera au inceput sa produca flacoane suflate si taiate si candelabre din cristale incolore in cantitati mai mari. Exista pe atunci un interes sustinut in lume pentru acest tip de sticlarie. Intr-adevar, in prima treime a secolului al XIX-lea, aproximativ un milion de ciucuri de candelabru au fost produsi anual in aceasta regiune. Nu e de mirare ca existau aici, in acea perioada, in jur de 130 de ateliere de taiat sticla si 15 ateliere de presat sticla.

1850-1900
In cel de-al saselea deceniu al secolului al XIX-lea, ciucurii de candelabru si flacoanele au devenit insasi temelia productiei de cristaluriluri, o ramura nou aparuta in industria Jablonec. Catre 1860 existau in zona Jablonec 281 de ateliere de taiat si 24 de ateliere de presat sticla. In orice caz, productia de ciucuri a ramas la nivelul de un milion pe an. Un usor declin a survenit in perioada 1873-1874 o data cu criza economica mondiala. Cele mai populare articole erau greutatile de hartie (press-papier), calimarile, flacoanele si, mai tarziu, atunci cand cererea de cristaluri a crescut din nou, pulverizatoarele. In plus, la inceputul anilor ’80, obiectele decorative din sticla au inceput sa fie exportate din zona muntilor Jizera, mai ales in India. Oricum, pietele principale pentru cristaluri erau in Germania, Marea Britanie, Franta, Statele Unite, Italia, Rusia si statele balcanice. Ulterior, in 1896, prestigioasa revista de specialitate Sprechsaal a promovat cristalurile de Jizera ca fiind de ne-egalat in privinta cantitatii distribuite in intreaga lume. La acea vreme, in productia de cristaluri din regiune erau implicate 2700 de persoane (numai operatia de presare a ciucurilor de candelabru se desfasura in 40 de ateliere).

1900-1945
Inceputul secolului al XX-lea a cunoscut crizele de desfacere repetate in productia de cristaluri. Cauzele acestei situatii erau productia excesiva si capriciile modei. Totusi, catre 1905 situatia s-a ameliorat, cristalurile ramanand una dintre cele mai importante ramuri ale industriei din Jablonec. Primul razboi mondial a afectat profund industria, insa catre sfarsitul anilor ’20 functionau din nou 250 de ateliere de finisaj in regiunea Jizera, cu aproximativ 2250 de angajati. Tocmai in aceasta perioada au aparut in aceasta regiune cristalurile de arta. Productia traditionala s-a pastrat, insa a fost treptata provocata de concurenta produselor mai ieftine. Exportatorii de cristaluri au gasit in continuare clientela in Germania, Marea Britanie, Franta, Statele Unite, Italia, Rusia si statele balcanice. Industria a suferit o majora depresiune in 1931, datorata crizei economice mondiale. Doar cristalurile de arta au reusit sa ocoleasca criza. Apoi, timp de 5 ani, cristalurile au trecut printr-o perioada de re-vitalizare absoluta. O alta calamitate, sub forma celui de al Doilea Razboi Mondial, a lovit industria intre 1938 si 1945. Ea a culminat, insa, cu transformarea zonei muntoase Jizera, pana atunci sub ocupatie germana, in teritoriu ceh.

1945-2007
Decretele emise de presedintele Beneš in mai si octombrie 1945 au condus atat la exproprierea aproape tuturor companiilor din muntii Jizera, inclusiv a producatorilor si exportatorilor de cristaluri, cat si la plecarea populatiei germane din zona de granita. Aceste companii erau reunite in intreprinderi nationale inca inainte de 1948. Acest proces a creat, de exemplu, Intreprinderea Nationala de Cristaluri (Krystalerie), care a fost inglobata in Intreprinderea Nationala Jablonecké sklárny Dolní Polubný (Compania Josef Riedel Company inainte) in 1953. Cristalurile au ramas un produs popular chiar si dupa schimbarile politice, insa interesul se indrepta preponderent catre modelele de dinainte celui de al doilea razboi mondial. Cu toate acestea, incepand cu anii ’50, in regiunea Jizera, atentia a fost acordata si noilor forme, stimulate adesea si de Compania de Stat pentru export Skloexport. Intreprinderile de stat au disparut dupa 1989. Ornela Company Limited a devenit succesoarea Intreprinderii Jablonecké sklárny in 1992 si a ramas cel mai mare producator de cristaluri din zona. De la sfarsitul anilor ’90 incoace Ornela a sustinut initiative de colaborare cu scoli de arte decorative si creatori din afara tarii pentru a crea noi modele. Compania Ornela a fost dizolvata in 2005, an in care a fost infiintata o noua companie, Jablonex Group.

CRISTALURILE ARTISTICE

Origini
Incepand cu anii ’20 zona muntoasa Jizera a reprezentat, pentru cristalurile de arta, teritoriul de referinta. Existau doua tipologii: pe de o parte, sticla presata cu ornamentatii bogat profilate in relief, inspirate de opera lui René Lalique si, pe de alta parte, sticla de lux pre-presata sau suflata si taiata, dar fara decoratie si cu suprafata neteda, folosita mai ales in context casnic.
„Stilul Lalique” a fost adaptat la productia din Jizera prin intermediul atelierelor de finisaj conduse de Joseph Schmidt in Příchovice (din 1924) si Johann Umann in Potočná (din 1926) sau a casei de export din Jablonec a lui Heinrich Hoffman (din 1924), care a definit foarte adecvat, in 1930, insusi sensul acestei productii: de a oferi sansa decorarii caminelor cu obiecte de sticla de inalta valoare artistica. Productia de cristaluri de arta a fost ulterior preluata de alte companii, mai cu seama Curt Schlevogt din Jablonec nad Nisou, administrata de ginerele lui H. Hoffman, Henry G. Sclevogt si care a elaborat, din 1934, colectia INGRID.
Cei mai importanti producatori de sticla taiata din zona Jizera erau casele de export Eduard Dressler si Schindler & Co. in Jablonec nad Nissou (ambele companii detinand ateliere de finisaj proprii), Gebrüder Feix in Albrechtice v Jizerský horách si Johann Umann in Potočná.

Istoria colectiei INGRID
Henry G. Schlevgot, detinatorul companiei Curt Schlevogt, si-a intitulat colectia de cristaluri de arta, prima prezentata la Targul din Leipzig din 1934, dupa numele fiicei sale. Colectia INGRID a fost imbogatita prin design-uri inedite, dintre care cele mai spectaculoase au fost lansate in anii de dinaintea celui de al Doilea Razboi Mondial, cand compania colabora cu artisti de renume european (Ida Schwetz-Lehmann, Vally Wieselthier, Ena Rottenberg, Mario Petrucci si altii). Suma prototipurilor si a combinatiilor auxiliare au totalizat a fost mai mare de 1000. Unele modele au fost preluate in 1939 de la compania lui Heinrich Hoffmann, al carei proprietar era tatal primei sotii a lui Schlevogt, Charlotte, mama lui Ingrid. Prin contrast, o suma de mulaje au ajuns de la Sclevogt  in mainile lui Josef Riedel in Polubý la sfarsitul anilor ’30.
Marile transformari ce au insotit transferurile de proprietati cauzate de decretele presedintelui Beneš si constituirea unei administratii nationale au afectat si colectia INGRID dupa 1945. Acesteia i-au fost treptat adaugate colectiile altor companii, in special Joseph Schmidt din Příchovice si Johann Umann in Potočná. Dupa 1948, cand intreaga industrie cehoslovaca a fost nationalizata, colectia INGRID a inglobat o parte din productia fabricilor Rudolf Hloušek si František Halama in Železný Brod. In anii ’50 Skloexport vindea piese din Colectia INGRID, facute din sticla opaca, sub titulatura de JAD, inainte de a reveni la numele original. Mai tarziu, intreprinderea nationala „Jablonecké sklárný Desná v Jizerských horách” a ajuns sa detina monopolul in aceasta ramura a industriei, administrand fostele fabrici ale Companiei Josef Riedel. Una dintre consecintele schimbarilor social-politice din 1989 a fost si dizolvarea intreprinderii Jablonecké sklárný. Compania Ornela Limited Zásada, infiintata in 1992 (diviziunea „Desenské sklárný Polubý”, Jablonex Group din 2005) a devenit succesoarea acestei intreprinderi si detinatoarea majoritatii tiparelor originale ale colectiei INGRID. Unele dintre acestea au ramas in proprietatea Jizerské sklo a. S. L  Lučany nad Nissou (parte din Ornela incepand din 2003) si Vitrum s. R. O. Janov nad Nissou (fondata in 1992). Atelierul de finisare František Halama, redeschis in Železný Brod a reclamat, atunci, proprietatea asupra tiparelor originale. Companiile mentionate nu mai folosesc actualmente marca INGRID sau JADE.

Dr. Petr Nový

ENGLISH VERSION

BOHEMIAN CRYSTAL GLASS

The uniqueness of Bohemian crystal glass relies on the fine balance achieved between manual and mechanical work throughout the production process. This balance made it possible to significantly increase production over a given period of time while retaining the glassmaker’s artistic input throughout the various stages of the process. Glassware thus obtained withstood comparison to similar hand crafted luxury items from the point of view of quality, with the added benefit of greater affordability.

The perfume bottles, inkwells and table accessories produced in the region successfully made their way onto world markets due to the innovative and highly competitive methods devised by the engineers, fitters and glassmakers from the Jizera Mountains as well as to the foresight and acumen of local entrepreneurs and businessmen.

Bohemian crystal glass has always drawn its strength from the quality of the local raw materials and the precisely crafted metal moulds. Crystal glass that did not lose its quality through solarisation (i.e. its clarity was constant) was already being molten in the Jizera Mountains during the 19th century. This glass could be shaped without any great difficulty by blowing, pressing or moulding it into metal moulds. Products were hand-cut or usually only re-cut after pressing, which lowered the price without affecting the quality.

Two distinct processes were employed in the production of Bohemian crystal glassware: panel cutting and pressing.  Whilst the first type is basically blown glass shaped using a mould and then further refined, the second draws on the pressing technology by using moulds with a plug or pressing tongs. However, creative designs and able glassmakers are intrinsic to the production process, differentiating between crystal and common pressed glass.

Crystal glass can be divided into three basic categories. The first consists of all types of bottles, the second category is chandelier glass, and the third is domestic ware, ranging from paperweights, inkwells, rulers, to various small decorative and utility glass items, wine and water glasses, vases, etc. Bangles were also classified under crystalware. Towards the end of the 19th century an astonishing sales increase of the latter led to the development of a separate branch of production.

ROOTS & DEVELOPMENT & CONTEMPORARY PRODUCTION 

1750 – 1850
During the 1750s glasshouses in the Jizera Mountains started to produce all types of blown and cut bottles and pressed chandelier glass made of clear crystal glass in larger quantities. Sustained market demand in crystal glass from the region resulted in an annual production of about one million chandelier trimmings alone in the first third of the 19th century. The flourishing of the industry was evident in the increasingly higher number of workshops in the area: around 130 cutting workshops and 15 pressing workshops were active at that time.

1850 – 1900
The 1860s saw the rising of a new line of production for the Jablonec industry: crystal glassware, focusing primarily on chandelier trimmings and all types of bottles. In 1860 there were 281 cutting workshops and 24 glass pressing workshops in the Jablonec area. However, the production of trimmings did not rise over the level of one million per year.
The world economic crisis of 1873-1874 resulted in a short but sharp decline. Once the demand for crystal glassware rose again, the most sought after items were paperweights, inkwells, scent bottles and later atomisers. The early 1880s saw glass bangles being exported from the Jizera Mountains, mainly to India. Yet Germany, Great Britain, France, the USA, Italy, Russia and the Balkan states formed the main markets for crystal glassware. In 1896 the prestigious glass magazine Sprechsaal praised crystal glassware from the Jizera Mountains considering it unrivalled in terms of the quantity of produce found throughout the world. At that time the crystal glass industry formed the livelihood for 2700 people in the region (the production of chandelier trimmings still led the way, with 40 pressing shops active).

1900 – 1945
In the early years of the 20th century the industry was affected by one sales crisis after another. Over production and changing fashion were the main reasons behind these. However, the situation improved after 1905 and crystal glassware remained one of the most important branches of industry in Jablonec. The First World War severely marked the industry but by the end of the 1920s no less than 250 refining and finishing crystal workshops were again active in the Jizera Mountains, employing some 2250 people. It was at this time that the region opened to what is known as artistic crystal glassware. While the traditional range of produce was not discontinued, the industry had to meet the ever more challenging competition of the cheap pressed goods. Exporters continued to find buyers for crystal glassware in Germany, Great Britain, France, the USA, Italy, Russia, and the Balkan states. The 1931 depression along with major shifts in fashion deeply affected the industry. The artistic range was the only one capable to make it through the crisis to any degree. Five years later crystal glassware made a successful come back revitalising the industry once again. This did not last long, as the devastating events of the Second World War shaped the scene between 1938 and 1945 and culminated by the end of the war with the transformation of the once-German Jizera Mountains into sovereign Czech territory.

1945 – 2007
In May and October 1945 decrees issued by President Beneš led to the expropriation of almost every company in the Jizera Mountains, including producers and exporters, as well as to the departure of the German population from the border area.
Even before 1948 these companies were merged into major national enterprises. This process led to the establishment of the Krystalerie (Crystalware) national enterprise, incorporated in 1953 in the Jablonecké sklárny Dolní Polubný national enterprise (previously the Josef Riedel Company). Despite the huge political change, crystal remained a popular good, with demand focusing to a large degree on designs dating back to the period prior to the Second World War. In spite of this, from the 1950s onwards attention was devoted to new designs in the Jizera Mountains, often stimulated by the state export company Skloexport.
After 1989 state enterprises were disbanded. In 1992 the Ornela Company Limited became successor to the Jablonecké sklárny enterprise and remained the largest producer of crystal goods in the region. From the end of the ‘90s onwards Ornela attempted to systematically work with external designers and schools of applied arts to generate new designs. In the year 2005 the Ornela Company Ltd. was dissolved, and a new company, the Jablonex Group, came into existence.

ARTISTIC CRYSTAL GLASS

Crystal goods of high artistic quality started to be produced in the Jizera Mountains during the second half of the 1920s. One stream of production comprised pressed glass with richly profiled relief decoration inspired by the work of the French artist René Lalique; the other drew on the domestic tradition of panel-cut glass and included luxury pre-pressed and cut or blown-and-cut glass with smooth walls and no decoration. The artistic range of crystal produce was often designed by professional artists and/or designers.

The refining and finishing workshops of Josef Schmidt in Příchovice and of Johann Umann in Potočná along with the Jablonec export house of Heinrich Hoffmann were the prime promoters of “Lalique-style” pressed glass in the Jizera Mountains as of 1924 and 1926 respectively. In 1930 Heinrich Hoffmann aptly defined the very sense of this production as being to give even the less well-off the chance to decorate their homes with tasteful glass pieces of high artistic value.
Other companies, particularly that of Curt Schlevogt from Jablonec nad Nisou, took up the production of crystal goods of high artistic quality. In 1934 the Schlevogt company, managed by Hoffmann’s son-in-law Henry G. Schlevogt, started the production of the INGRID Collection.

The most prominent producers of panel-cut glass in the Jizera Mountains were the export houses of Eduard Dressler and Schindler & Co. in Jablonec nad Nisou (both companies running their own refining and finishing plants and glassworks in the Bohemian-Moravian Uplands), Gebrüder Feix in Albrechtice v Jizerských horách and Johann Umann in Potočná.

The story of the INGRID Collection

Henry G. Schlevogt, owner of the Curt Schlevogt Company, named his collection of artistic crystal glass after his daughter Ingrid. The collection was first presented at the Leipzig Fair in 1934. New designs were gradually added to the INGRID Collection; some of its most accomplished pieces date from just before the outburst of World War II, when the company worked with reputed European artists such as Ida Schwetz-Lehmann, Vally Wieselthier, Ena Rottenberg, Mario Petrucci and many others. The overall number of actual designs and their combinations totalled more than one thousand. Certain items from the faltering Heinrich Hoffmann Company, whose owner was the father of Schlevogt’s first wife Charlotte, mother of Ingrid, were also added to the collection in 1939. By contrast, at the end of the 1930s a number of Schlevogt’s moulds came into the possession of Josef Riedel in Polubný.
The dramatic societal changes and property transfers that ensued from the Beneš Decrees of 1945 along with the creation of a national administration in nationalised enterprises left their imprint on the INGRID collection as well. This gradually came to incorporate the collections of other companies, in particular those of Josef Schmidt in Příchovice and Johann Umann in Potočná. After 1948, when all Czechoslovak industry was nationalised, the INGRID Collection also comprised products made by the refining and finishing factories of Rudolf Hloušek and František Halama in Železný Brod. During the 1950s Skloexport sold items from the INGRID Collection made from opaque glass under the name of JADE, before returning to the original name. Later the “Jablonecké sklárny Desná v Jizerských horách” national glassmaking enterprise was granted exclusive ownership (monopoly) of the range. This enterprise basically administered the factories of the former Josef Riedel Company.
The Ornela Company Limited Zásada, founded in 1992 (“Desenské sklárny Polubný” division, the Jablonex Group from 2005 onwards), became the successor of the “Jablonecké sklárny” and hence the owner of most of the original moulds from which pieces in the INGRID Collection were made. Some moulds remained the property of Jizerské sklo a. s. Lučany nad Nisou (also part of Ornela from 2003 onwards) and Vitrum s.r.o. Janov nad Nisou (founded in 1992). The re-opened František Halama refining and finishing factory in Železný Brod then reclaimed possession of its own original moulds.
None of the companies mentioned above use either the INGRID or JADE brand names.

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