Imre Jakabffy (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 8. (Budapest, 1984)

VARGA, Vera: Art Nouveau art glasses

11. Bowl, Louis Comfort Tiffany, c. 1898. Blown, coloured opacifyed glass. Ht. 10 cm, D. 13 cm. consists of engraved rings of make and an inscription. Naturally this approach is one of the extremities of Art Nouveau glassmaking, such use of symbols couldn't become general and typical, the Art Nouveau glassmakers, using representations with deeper meaning were remaining in the metaphorical level. The followers of Gallé had respect for the new status of glass, created by Gallé, and in spite of the fact, that their works generally hadn't any symbolic meaning, they marked them with their own signatures. In spite of the fact, that Gallé had first worked in faience, he found glass especially suitable for expressing the special quality of Art Nouveau — form and decoration, as well — while some glassmakers, Henri Cross, Albert Dammouse, Georges Despret, François Décorchemont and G. Argy-Rousseau used a special way of glassmaking, which means transition from pottery to glassmaking technics. The revival of that ancient technique, pâte-deverre, was first attempted by Henri Cross at Sèvres factory. As the result of his experiments, he created a special kind of composition of powder glass, which could easily be coloured and pattern-moulded. Between 1893 and 1903 he formed his famous series of reliefs of this material. The basic material of the experiments of Albert Dammouse, also at the Sèvres factory, was a material like a translucent enamel paste between glass and soft porcelaine. The pâte-de-verre technique later became one of the favourite technics of Art Nouveau, Gallé occasionally also made use of it, independently and in combination with other techniques, as well. It is pâtede-verre and from some point of you French coloured glass, made in 19th century, that we have to consider as antecedents of the art glass of Art Nouveau, with full knowledge of the facts, that table and other household glass types were made only on a very limited scale with pâte-de-verre technique and the predominant part of French coloured glasses was ornamental, as well. Summing up the results we have to state that — in spite of the fact that Art Nouveau art glass has precedents — in the most prominent pieces it meant something radically new, creating the new type of art glass, where, though the technical solution played important role, the artistic intention is of crucial importance. Hungarian Art Nouveau glass Examining the formal and technical qualities of Hungarian Art Nouveau glassware, it is obvious at the very first sight, that they basically differ from the international Art Nouveau glass products. The difference doesn't mean inferiority in quality, its reason is the special develop-