Perfume Bottles

24EUROPEAN BOTTLESSought after by serious collectors ofCzech perfume bottles are the fabulouscreations combining full lead (over 40%)cut crystal bottles with elaborate stoppersmounted with lacy metal filigree, sometimeswith glass or semiprecious jewels. Thiswork was usually done in Czechoslovakia,but also in Austria during the sameperiod—1920s and 1930s.5.7” Clear cut crystal bottle and stopper,stopper cut with flowers, signed Czechoslovakia,c1920s-30s $150The firm of Ludwig Moser and Sonwas founded in the mid-19th century and isstill making excellent glass items today. Itbegan as an engraving studio, but laterdeveloped a technique for producing glassthat was as hard as lead crystal. Their earlywork is often unsigned.8” Moser purple urn shape bottle with goldband of women warriors, conforming stopperwith dauber, unsigned $7503” pair of crystal bottles with metal collars ingilt metal faux jewel mounted caddy, c1920s,marked Austria $350Heinrich Hoffman (1875-1939) was amaster glass craftsman and designer in thearea that became Czechoslovakia in 1918.He made Art Nouveau style molds forperfumes, most signed intaglio in the moldswith a butterfly. In the late 1920s, hisdaughter married Henry Schlevogt, whohad worked in the jewelry making trade.With Hoffman’s help, he founded the IngridCompany (named for Schlevogt’sdaughter). The new company developedmany new processes for making lithyalinglass (in imitation of many natural stones—malachite, lapis lazuli, quartz, etc.) andproduced the sought-after perfume bottleswith nude daubers, with and without elegantmetal filigree mounts with faux jewels. Theyremain the best loved bottles by collectors.