The glassware presented at the exhibition comes from the glassworks’ former sample room and, together with other objects, entered the Karkonosze Museum in Jelenia Góra’s art glass collection in two transfers, in 1967 and 1995. As a result, the Jelenia Góra glass collection was expanded by 1,500 objects from one of Silesia’s leading glassworks.
The collection of glassware presented in the exhibition consists of high-quality functional objects designed by leading artists collaborating with the manufactory in Szklarska Poręba and made of high-lead crystal glass. They demonstrate the full range of the glassworks’ technological capabilities and the craftsmanship of its employees. The richness and diversity of Josephine’s products can be seen in historicising forms, such as the “Cypern” glass collection—inspired by Roman vessels—or “Jodhpur” glassware, whose form and decoration refer to pewter vessels made in a district of India. Attuned to European trends in crafts and art, the glassworks’ designers were proposing Art Nouveau-style glassware as early as around 1900, best illustrated by the subtle, vegetal ornaments covering wine glasses and remers. The Josephine Glassworks sought to cater to a broad range of consumers; consequently, alongside classic, elegant forms decorated with a full repertoire of cuts and engraved motifs, one can also find modern designs of painted or coloured vessels, with simple, striking forms enhanced by interesting decoration and executed in the Art Deco style.
The exhibition can be visited until the end of October 2015 during the Ceramics Department’s opening hours.
(Information prepared on the basis of materials provided by the Karkonosze Museum in Jelenia Góra)