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Jaroslav Lebeda 1958 Brussels
These extremely scarce bottles were produced by Borské Sklo as part of a highly limited range for display and sale at ‘Expo 58’, the World’s Fair held in Brussels in 1958.
The design sums up the. postwar revolution in Czech glass design better than any other design produced by better-known, more prolific designers. This is, to date, the only known design by Jaroslav Lebeda, a glass factory manager in Novy Bor.
Each element updates historic Bohemian glass traditions to the modern age. The clean-lined form and grid of gently sweeping, curved cuts that echo it are the opposite of intricate or pokal forms from the 18th and 19th centuries, and make the traditional colours appear distinctly modern.
The randomly-placed enamelled and gilded motifs vary from geometric to abstract and Picasso-0esque, and replace traditional commemorative or hunting scenes. Had these motifs been applied to canvas or papper, they would have violated strict rules set down by the Communist regime about decadent and subversive Western abstract art.
Each example is unique as it was decorated by hand by Mrs Mai, who later went on to become the wife of eminent glass designer Karel Wünsch. This form was the flagship design of this very scarce range and is highly desirable due to its complex and unique desgin and iconic status.
