Octopus Vase

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Octopus Vase

Manufacturer Johann Lötz Witwe (Austrian, 1836-1947)

Dateabout 1887-1889

DimensionsH: 25 1/2 in. (64.8 cm)

MediumGlass; mold-blown, encased, tooled, gilded.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

2006.173A-C

Not on View

DescriptionBlown of opalescent glass overlaid in reddish-brown, the body is decorated with optic-blown arabesque-shaped air bubbles embedded and blown-out in colorless glass, the whole gilt with small, spiraling ornamentation and acanthus leaves, above an applied foot and detachable finial and cover.

Label TextThe “tentacles” of the pattern on this covered vase were achieved by carefully controlling and shaping trapped bubbles of air within the glass. The vase, along with others in the “Octopus pattern”, won Lötz a Grand Prix (Grand Prize) at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1889 (the cameo Sunflower vase by Thomas Webb & Sons in this gallery was also displayed at the Paris Exposition).Published ReferencesRevue des arts décoratifs 10, (1889-90), p.175.

Ricke, H., J. Mergl, D. Panenková and W. Hennig, Lötz Böhmisches Glas 1880-1940, Band I, Werkmonographie, p. 59, pl. 32.

Mergl, J., E. Ploil, and H. Ricke, Loetz Bohemian Glass 1880-1940, 2003, pp. 46-47, fig.

Busch, Jason T. and Catherine L. Futter, Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World's Fairs, 1851-1939, Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art, 2012, cat.76, pp. 90, 265, repr. (col.) p. 89.

Exhibition HistoryParis Exposition Universelle, 1889.

Kansas City, Nelson Atkins Museum of Art; Pittsburgh (PA), Carnegie Museum of Art, Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at World’s Fairs 1851-1939, April 7, 2012-February 24, 2013 (Pittsburgh Venue only).