Welz- Futurism in Glass
by Craig Orkney
I have spent several years researching and trying to build a reasonable understanding of the production of Franz Welz Klostergrab. This project has faced many obstacles, especially in light of very little actual documentation regarding their production. My project was initiated by a piece of glass, the style of which had for years been attributed to Kralik, which bore a recognized Welz production label reading "FWK". With that piece of glass, my journey was sparked to begin.
Although we know when Welz was founded, we have no indication of the date of the actual end of the company, or the cause. My suspicion has always been that the cause would have been WWII, but this is simply an educated guess and nothing more. As a result of this I have worked to determine with some subjective and real evidence, if not the actual end of the company, at least the years that we can verify that they were still a viable entity.
The first step in this process was the identification of some very distinctive decors in vivid and artistically unique styles. This was undertaken using unique shapes, decors, and in a few cases, labeled pieces of production. Through this search I was able to identify production by the company extending into the 1920's. At a minimum this was done through distinctive Welz product with provenance marks indicating production in Czechoslovakia.
Additionally, through the identification of a particular shape in a variety of decors, their importation to the US market by Butler can be traced to at least as late as Sept. 1932, when the distinctive and unique "Scalloped Fan" shape can still be found in assortments of Czech glass offered for importation......
So the Butler Brothers catalogs trace their production to 1932.... but let us examine another piece of solid and documented evidence that would remove any and all reasonable doubt regarding this timeline. To help to support this timeline I offer the vases below.
These vases were photographed at the museum in Jablonec, and the images kindly provided to me by a friend interested in the research. What these show is a pair of vases that are Franz Welz. The time frame is 1931. So now, even if we question the Butler timeline based on the Scalloped Fan, we can solidly establish that they were still in business in 1931. It would appear that Truitt I, which offered the possibility that they went out of business shortly after WWI, is in reality, incorrect.....
The manner of these vases stylistically represents the Futurism Movement, which was reasonably short lived. The style of these vases, at least to me, is a reasonable artistic continuation of what appears to me to be the company direction...... leading edge in terms of decors, color combinations, and now in terms of Art itself......
The school where it appears these were produced was in Kamenický Šenov, and the vases not only bear a previously unseen Welz label, but one also exhibits a label reading Steinschönau with the letters F & S on the label also. The initials F&S simply represent Fachschule, which means Technical College in German. Steinschönau is simply German for Kamenický Šenov. This label may provide a clue to the possibility that Welz also marketed and sold glass in Germany. It is unknown to me if the School designed and produced the pieces, or if the design was supplied by Welz, and the school simply produced it. It could also represent a piece that Welz produced and the school label is to give recognition to the origins of the design. Another possibility is that it was a joint effort between the school and Welz, with Welz looking to expand on their mission to be artistically unique, a mission which is shown well in the uniqueness of their product line as determined thus far. In reality we will never know the reason these were produced, or the motive behind them. I think we can rest assured that Welz was involved in their production, as well as the Glass School at Kamenický Šenov.
The left label and the center label are both on the first vase above. The other label is on the second vase. The sign shown is one displayed in front of both of these vases.
I think that it is also important to note that the Welz label seen on these vases, is not one I am aware has been identified previously, and is not referenced in the Glasmarken Lexicon. It is also a possibility that it was a label designed to be used on this type of product, and not used on more mainstream items.... We may never know....
At this point, at least in regards to my work, it is more important that it is the establishment of a hard timeline indicating that Welz was still active in the 1930's, and also moving forward in the artistically unique style they appeared to embrace in the early 20th century and into the interwar years of Deco production.
These are surely among the greatest examples of "Deco Era" Czech glass production I have ever seen, and not just because they are Welz. I have collected and researched glass for many years, and these are stunning examples of what the Futurism period brought forth.
So what do we now really know about Welz production years based on hard evidence?
The company timeline extending to 1931 is proven beyond a doubt..... and extended to at least 1932 if we believe the Butler Catalogs and the attribution of the Scalloped Fan to Welz...... and to me at least, common sense would lead in the direction of thinking that if they were large enough to supply Butler consistently as late as 1932, they likely lasted at least a few more years past that...
This last image is of the decors identified to date on the Welz Scalloped Fan.
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