Attributed to Josef Hoffmann for Ludwig Moser & Söhne | Faceted Cobalt Glass Vase | Wiener Werkstätte | Unmarked | c.1920s

Attributed to Josef Hoffmann for Ludwig Moser & Söhne | Faceted Cobalt Glass Vase | Wiener Werkstätte | Unmarked | c.1920s

Some objects carry the full weight of a movement without needing a name on the base to prove it.

Geometric faceting became an important element of early twentieth-century decorative glass design. Josef Hoffmann designed a number of geometric glass forms for the Wiener Werkstätte, with examples made by Ludwig Moser & Söhne in Karlsbad, Bohemia, and documented cobalt glass examples from around 1920 record this collaboration. The present vase is attributed to Hoffmann’s design and Moser’s manufacture on the basis of its form and cutting, compared with closely corresponding cobalt glass vases catalogued in the trade as Hoffmann designs made by Moser. The vase is unmarked, and its attribution therefore rests on comparative evidence rather than a maker’s or workshop mark.

This vase is formed in deep cobalt blue glass and cut on all sides with broad flat facets that divide the body into a series of angular planes meeting at sharp vertical ridges. The form tapers from a wide octagonal rim downward through a broad shouldered body before stepping inward at the lower section, where a second register of shorter, differently angled facets creates a geometric base transition. The result is a compact, weighty object that handles light actively — the cobalt intensifying and darkening as the facets change angle. Viewed from above, the rim presents a clean octagon. Viewed from the side, the body reads as a slightly coffin-shouldered column of cut planes. The glass is heavy for its size.

There are small chips and fleabite nibbles to the rim and base edges, consistent with age and handling. The body retains its full colour saturation and the facet cutting is crisp throughout with no grinding or polishing of damage evident.

Key Details

• Designer: Attributed to Josef Hoffmann
• Manufacturer: Attributed to Ludwig Moser & Söhne, Karlsbad
• Commissioned for: Wiener Werkstätte (attributed)
• Marks: Unmarked
• Style: Wiener Werkstätte geometric faceted glass
• Material: Faceted cobalt blue glass
• Origin: Bohemia (attributed)
• Period: c.1920s (attributed)
• Height: 12 cm
• Weight: 327 g
• Condition: Good — small chips and fleabites to rim and base edges; body and facets intact

Collector Appeal

A deep cobalt vase cut in broad planes, with an octagonal rim and a second register of facets at the base, in the faceted manner associated with Hoffmann’s designs for Moser.

Glass holds colour the way few materials can — this particular blue has been answering to light for the better part of a century, and it has not tired of the conversation.