This lidded goblet was made in around 1914 by Rex, a small glass factory in Bohemia (now Czechozlovakia). With a dyed red surface and clear, acid-etched details, it is similar to the pieces that larger Bohemian glass factories produced for the Wiener Werkstätte (Viennese Workshops).

Established by a small group of Secessionists in 1903, the Wiener Werkstätte practiced a range of crafts and followed a design philosophy of simplified shapes, minimal decoration and often geometric pattern. Through glass distributors in Vienna, it commissioned Bohemian glassmakers, like Josef Rosipal, Mulhaus and the Haida glassmaking school, to manufacture its designs. However, from 1916, it did most of its own engraving, painting and finishing in its workshop. Its brightly coloured glassware was often etched with simple, geometric patterns that came to influence many glassmakers in Bohemia.

The Bohemian glass factory, Rex, made this lidded goblet in around 1914 to emulate the glassware that larger Bohemian factories were making for the Austrian workshop, the Wiener Werkstatte. The clear glass vessel was coated with a wax deposit that formed the outline of the vertical decorations. The vessel and lid were then dipped in a red transparent dye, and the wax was removed to reveal the clear glass pattern beneath. This clear surface was later etched with acid to create a matt finish.

Ian Neil Whalland (1963-1996) acquired this glass goblet set for his collection of twentieth-century decorative art objects. He lived in Sydney, and developed his collection during the 1980s and 1990s.

Goblet with lid, glass, with a red acid-etched design, designed and made by Rex, Bohemia, c.1914

A glass goblet with lid decorated with a pattern of vertical loops in transparent glass on a red background. The goblet is a tall cylindrical shape and has a slightly flared lip and a short base that also features a decorative pattern. The domed shaped lid has red rectangular finial at its centre top and a transparent glass rim which secures the lid to the goblet. Marked on base.

Designed: Rex; Bohemia; 1909 - 1919

See part records.

2005/66/32

1909 - 1919

180 mm

60 mm