254 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



July. 19 1 3 



Salem, Mass., which is perhaps the 

 largest to the Mitchell collection. This 

 consists principally of decanters and 

 tumblers, there being few, if any, such 

 odd pieces as a.re found in the first 

 mentioned group. 



Among enameled glass we find small 

 groups of uncertain origin. Often this 

 is a deep cobalt blue rounded in metal 

 and showing handle of glass. Several 

 examples of this ware are to be found 

 in the British Museum, known as ewers, 

 many of which bear dates which range 

 from 1577 to 161 8. These specimens 

 -have been traced back to. the glass- 

 house of Nuedeck Platten on the Saxon- 

 Bohemian frontier, but the treatment 

 of them remind one of the work ex- 

 ecuted by the Altarists in France. 



Naturally, imitation of this art soon 

 appeared and a cheaper kind of deco 



Characteristic of many of the best 

 Bohemian pieces was the ruby color- 

 ing, to acquire which, any number of 

 workmen tried without avail for it was 

 almost an impossibility to hit upon the 

 right combination and to produce the 

 desired shade. So anxious were they to 

 find out the method, that one Kunckel, 

 an artist, was given by the erector of 

 Brandenburg, 1,600 ducats to assist 

 him in improving this shade of color- 

 ing. This type was made in the last 

 half of the seventeenth century. Long 

 experience in the manufacture of this 

 colored glass had caused the workmen 

 -to become experts, and, as advice was 

 needed they succeeded in getting it 

 from men who made a living by selling 

 secrets concerning some process. 



So eager were the rich lords of 

 Bohemia to insure the success of this 



Flagon of engraved Bohemian glass 



ration was produced by means of a process similar to etch- industry, that all capital needed was advanced by them, 

 ing. This process is still in use, and consists of fluoric This gave them additional courage and there is no ware 

 acid, prepared by treating fluoride with concentrated sul- that possesses the attraction that this does. To many it is not 

 phuric acid diluted with nearly its own quantity of water, known that Bohemian glassware was at one time manu- 

 It is kept in bottles of lead or gutta percha, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^— factured in America, but at a very early 

 as it is one of the most destructive and cor- period. It was made in Pennsylvania at a 



rosive acids known, and easily destroys glass B^&^f place called Mannheim, which was named af- 



or it could not be used for etching. WL% ter tne °^ town in Germany; here Baron 



By this new process the glass to be decorated nlvjfl Stiegle in 1750 laid out a village and estab- 



is washed with a varnish composed of wax and lished iron and glass works, deeding a plot of 



turpentine, which is applied hot by means of ground to the Lutheran congregation, but de- 



a brush. If the design is an exceptionally ^^^S" rmanding in annual payment a red rose. The 



fine one, dripping linseed oil is used, then it M ■ "■'" B W " ; glass house that he built was shaped like a 



is traced with a point just as in etching. The EJ dome, and it was so large that a coach and 



transparency of the linseed oil permits this W* :,^<M six horses could enter at the doorway, turn 



to be easily done. The part covered with m * around and come out again. Skilled work- 



varnish is coated with wax and the acid is men were brought over from the best factories 



allowed to eat into the glass along the lines Bohemian glass salt-cellar abroad, and made bowls and goblets of rich 

 of the design for either longer or shorter periods, accord- coloring and with a true Bohemian ring, 

 ing to the depth of engraving required. The varnish is He failed in business, however, after five years, but the 



then removed by first washing in water and afterwards in old house bearing his name still stands in the heart of the 

 diluted alcohol. The glass is touched only in the lines town. It is distinguished by the red and black bricks of 



which have been left bare by the 

 engraver. 



Hand work can be distinguished 

 from engraving by acid after a little 

 practice. However carefully the 

 chemical operation may be per- 

 formed, it is impossible that every 

 part eaten by the acid, should have 

 the sharpness and clearness of line 

 which is given by the point of an ; I 

 engraver's tool, in the hands of an 

 expert engraver. In this case as in 

 many others, the character of the 

 work speaks for itself, and there iS)g | 

 nothing that excels Bohemian 

 hand work. 



The art of cameo incrustation 

 for glassware was discovered by 

 the Bohemians, but they did not use 

 it to any extent, but varied it with 

 engraving to obtain odd and pleas- 

 ing effects, showing as it were a cas- 

 ing of colored glass and the interior 

 of white transparent of enameled 

 ware. We find such a specimen in the 

 salt cellar which is shown in the J. W. 

 Mitchell, Manchester collection. 



Decanters of Bohemian glass 



which it is built. In the month of 

 June there is celebrated the Feast of 

 Roses, during which time a great 

 red rose is given by the church of- 

 ficer to the Baron's descendants. 



An important branch of the Bo- 

 hemian-Silesian glass industry was 

 the manufacture of religious beads 

 as well as glass paste for artificial 

 jewelry. The art was learned from 

 wandering Venetians in Bohemia, 

 and bead furnaces are mentioned 

 early in the seventeenth century at 

 Wilderburg. 



Later on, a demand came rather 

 for beads for personal ornament 

 than for religious purposes. The 

 manufacture of the more elaborate 

 forms was by means of a blow pipe. 

 This art spread slowly, however, in 

 the north. The methods were 

 taught by a Venetian, and so popu- 

 lar did they become that before the 

 middle of the century, certain dis- 

 tricts in northern Bohemia obtained 

 almost a monopolv of this trade, ex- 

 tensively called "Bohemian stones." 



