Vase - Tulip

A vase reminiscent of blown and hotformed glass, with a base from which grows a modelled crocus stem. Its budding flower leans towards the lower outwardly curving part, and its two leaves bend in an S shape to the upwardly curving neck, forming the handles. The surface, in a play of bluish, gold-green and purplish lights, evokes the fresh colours of spring – vying with the iridescent glasses of L. C. Tiffany (1848–1933). In their preparations for the 1900 Paris World’s Fair, the Zsolnay workshops concentrated their design work in the new style in three product areas. Smoothsurface wares were given symbolic pictorial decoration traditional vase shapes were combined with modelled flower stems, and one flower, the tulip, took the form of a “goblet”. There was a wide and inventive variety of variants on each form, and the glaze technique with its diverse colouring ensured that each piece was unique. First to appear were vase variations on the combination of the sculptured tulip and dafodill stems, probably following the visits to Pecs in and after November 1897 by Jozsef Rippl-Ronai (1861–1927), who was designing the Andrassy dining room. The favourite flower of Countess Andrassy (1867–1945), the tulip, and its analogous flower, the crocus, the first sign of spring, which was also a feature of Pecs gardens, appears in true-to-life but symbolic variations. This piece, with its vigour and harmony, stands out among them. There are no known documents recording the designers and the exact date of manufacture of single pieces belonging to this series. This crocus-stem vase must have been first made in spring 1899, because its outline drawing with two entries of dimensions, is entered under number 5530 in the company’s Facon Book, which records decorative pieces. The present vase corresponds to the smaller size (I). After display at the 1900 World’s Fair, a piece of this model was delivered to Lewy Strauss, New York, with “labrador glaze”.