Moser (glass company)

Founder Ludwig Moser in 1901

Amberina glass pitcher by Moser c. 1880

Ruby glass punch bowl set by Moser c. 1880

The original company Moser glassworks, founded in 1857 by Ludwig Moser in Karlovy Vary, was a glass workshop initially devoted to polishing and engraving glass blanks;[5] only later did the company begin designing and making its own art glass products.[6] Engraving blanks, from Loetz, Meyr's Neffe and Harrachov was performed by the workshop in the early years.[7] At the Vienna International Exhibition of 1873 he was awarded a medal for merit; that same year he was appointed the exclusive supplier of glass to the Emperor Franz Joseph I.[8] He would win numerous other awards in the coming years, including medals at the World Exhibitions in Paris in 1879, 1889 and 1900, and the World Exhibition in Chicago in 1893.[8] Ludwig took over a glass factory in Dvory (German: Meierhofen, now part of Karlovy Vary) in 1893 to create a full service glassworks employing 400 people, later under the name Glassworks Ludwig Moser & Sons (Czech: Sklárny Ludwig Moser a synové, German: Glasfabrik Ludwig Moser & Söhne) where his sons Gustav and Rudolf also worked.[5]

In 1904 Moser received a warrant to supply the Imperial Court of the Emperor of Austria and four years later became supplier to Edward VII.[9] In 1915 the company exhibited at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition and was again awarded a medal, which Louis Comfort Tiffany and Charles Tuthill thought well deserved due to the outstanding quality of the hot glass applied decorations on coloured Bohemian glass.[10] Art Nouveau glass pieces were produced Moser with surface decoration with natural themes and simple cameo glass. They also used the Eckentiefgravur technique employing a sharp angular body deeply cut in the form of intaglio flowers.[7]

Following the death of his father in 1916, Leo Moser took over the direction and the company expanded significantly resulting in their recognition by a Grand Prize award at the Paris International Exhibition of Decorative Art in 1925. They also exhibited in London, Belgium, Italy and Vienna.[3] The Art Nouveau designs of heavily engraved lilies and the Fipop series from c1914 were some of the most notable pieces. Several cheaper lower quality derivatives of the Fipop designs were produced by other companies and between 1927 and 1933 two American glassmakers made copies calling them Woodland and Deerwood.[6] Moser was one of the few Czechoslovakian glassmakers to sign their pieces.[11]

The depression of the early 1930s exacted its toll, reducing its staff to 240, eventually Leo resigned from the company in 1932. Later, having sold their company shares in the company in 1938, they fled the county after areas of Czechoslovakia were annexed.[12] The city of Karlovy Vary was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1938 after the Munich Agreement and the family fled the country during this anti-Semitic period. Because of its international reputation, the company was able to retain some independence during the communist era while the rest of the Czech glass industry was nationalised in 1948 (Crystalex).[6][13]

The slogan Moser - the king of glass originated in January 1869, when the director of the Vienna Museum for Art and Industry Rudolf Eitelberger issued a certificate about the perfection of Ludwig Moser's glass. Its quality was also confirmed by the medal from 1873 Vienna World's Fair. This year, Moser became an official supplier of glass to Vienna for the Austrian Imperial Court of Franz Joseph I. Since 1901 for the Persian Shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar and from 1908 for King Edward VII of England. Later also for Pope Pius XI, the Turkish sultan Abdul Hamid II.,[12] and the king Luís I of Portugal and his wife, Maria Pia of Savoy.[14] At that time, Moser already had a sales office in New York, London, Paris and St. Petersburg. Thus, the nickname of the Moser glassworks spread to Glass of Kings and King among Glass.

Moser glassmaker in 2011

Glasses by Moser

Ludwig Moser developed a lead-free sodium-potassium glass that is more ecologically friendly than lead glass yet is extremely hard; it remains the basis of their products.[15] Moser still produces some of its classic Fipop designs.[6] A factory museum shows the 150-year story of the company in more than 2,000 pieces on display supplemented by documentaries and audio guides.[16] Besides having four retail outlets in the Czech Republic, two in Prague and two in the company's hometown Karlovy Vary,[17] Moser has a worldwide network of retailers.[18] Moser's US distribution company was established in Northern Virginia in 1957.[19]

• Praseodymium
• Didymium

Notes

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moser (glass company).

• Czech Design
• Moser glass marks
• Official website
• The History of Moser Glass - Andrew Lineham