Moser Glass Company Vases

Glassware fit for a king

Your vase and bowl are nice examples of Bohemian art glass. They were probably made by the Moser Glass Company and are beautifully decorated.

Ludwig Moser founded the Moser Glass Company in 1857 in Czechoslovakia. The cut and etched glassware from this period customarily depicted flowers, figures and hunting scenes. Bohemian glass was often blown in layers using different colors such as cobalt blue or canary yellow. The glass artists would cut and etch through the color to reveal the clear glass behind. This process is called cut-to-clear.

Moser’s wares quickly became widely popular and by the 1890s the company had grown to employ 400 workers. As the company grew, style and tastes changed. Moser kept up with the latest trends. In the 1890s — the start of the Art Nouveau period — Moser created a new process in glass making: placing a layer of gold leaf between two layers of glass. These pieces would then be lavishly enamel-decorated with naturalistic motifs such as birds, butterflies and flowers.

In the early 1900s, Moser Glass Company was commissioned by King Edward IV to make the royal glassware. Not missing a beat, Moser quickly branded the slogan “King of Glass, Glass for Kings.”

The Moser Glass Company flourished until it was taken over by Nazi Germany. After WWII, the company was rebuilt and continues to operate successfully today. Moser continues to use the majority of its designs created before the 1930s.

Your pair of vases are terrific with their depictions of flowers, dragon and butterflies, as is the footed bowl with its applied glass and enameled lizard, stalactite rim and gilding.

Although Moser made glass for popes, sultans and kings, your family’s legend that Walt Whitman once owned these vases is unfortunately most likely not accurate as these vases were probably made after Whitman’s death in 1897.

I would value these three pieces of Moser glass at $1,100.