Biedermeier Glasses

In no other epoch of the history of glassmaking than in the first half of the 19th century did colourless and coloured so-called ‘Biedermeier glasses’ come into being in such variety of different decors, colours and forms, especially in Northern and Southern Bohemia, but also in Austrian regions such as northern Lower Austria and Styria. Firstly, the glass production of Harrach, Buquoy and Friedrich Egermann has to be mentioned, who manufactured glass objects in infinite variety, mastering a similarly wide range of technology. The collection in the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) as well as the Technical Museum in Vienna and the Kuhn Collection include exhibits of different techniques, e.g. Overflow glasses, Opaline glasses, Lythialin glasses, Hyalith glasses, Agatin glasses, stone glasses, cut glasses and transparent glasses of the artists Anton Kothgasser, Samuel Mohn and Johann Joseph Mildner in all colours, forms, polished patterns and technical designs. They bear witness to the highly demanding technical development of glass production in the Empire of Austria using a variety of chemicals and for that time very advanced techniques. Not to mention the two important exhibitions in 1922 as well as the recently organized glass exhibition ‘Shine and Colour, the Glass Collection Christian Kuhn’ in Vienna’MAK, the Museum of Applied Arts. For years Kunsthandel Stephan Andréewitch has been selling different glasses to meet the increasing demand for high quality objects.