Transparent royal blue lead glass; mold blown, ground, polished. Group of nine thinly blown vessels, all lipless with ground and polished rims, no pontils. Tall vase (A) with slightly flared rim tapering to slightly waisted cylindrical walls joined to low, wide hollow, slightly flared foot; footed bowl (B) with deep, wide, bell-shaped bowl, slightly flared rim joined to wide, low bell-shaped foot; low wide bowl (C), slightly flared rim, joined to small hollow conical foot; footed goblet (D) with deep bell-shaped bowl joined to widely flared conical foot, low nipple inside foot where it attaches to bowl; tall vase (E) with deep bell-shaped bowl, slightly flared rim joined to smaller bell-shaped hollow foot making the vessel reversible; sherbet dish (F) with wide, low bowl, flared sides and rim, flat base joined to hollow stem and foot blown in one piece, stem consists of wide flattened hollow knop topping deep, flared bell-shaped foot; tall, narrow bud vase (G) with sides tapering in slightly to pair of flattened knops joining bowl to tall hollow flared conical foot; covered footed bowl (H), low, widely flared conical lid, point is topped with small solid ball forming handle, inset flange tapers inward, deep bowl, slightly flared rim attached hot to low, hollow, slightly domed foot; spherical covered bowl (I), lid is topped by solid handle of applied small sphere attached by a short, thick, solid stem, slightly inset narrow flange, hemispherical bowl has rim that tapers in slightly, no lip, no foot, base is ground and polished flat.

The Viennese architect and designer Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956) deplored the poor quality of mass-produced objects. His preference for well-crafted everyday wares echoed the aims of the earlier Arts and Crafts movement in England. Hoffmann, who belonged to the avant-garde group of Austrian artists known as the Vienna Sezession, founded the Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshop) in 1903. It produced all kinds of decorative arts, from jewelry to complete room decorations. Vienna’s Die Fledermaus (The Bat), designed by Hoffmann and others in 1907, is one of the Wiener Werkstätte’s most recognized interiors. Inspired by artistic cabarets in Paris and Munich, it promoted the Werkstätte’s design philosophy. In glass, Hoffmann’s work is characterized by simple, full forms and spare, usually geometric decoration. This set of glasses was probably made at Meyr’s Neffe, one of the Bohemian glassworks that fabricated the Wiener Werkstätte’s designs.