Bohemian glass is renowned the world over for its high level of quality and artistry, even among people who don't know where or what Bohemia is. Located in the heart of Europe -- its capital is Prague -- the province of Bohemia is part of today's Czech Republic, where few tourists fail to browse through the glass shops and marvel at the craftsmanship and low prices of the items displayed.
Most visitors don't know, however, the venerable tradition these wares represent. Glassmaking has an uninterrupted history in the Czech lands that has spanned 1,000 years. Bohemia's geographical setting, natural resources and diligent, skillful population virtually assured that it would become a major force in the art and the industry of glass. The region's chandeliers have graced the palaces of the sultans and can still be seen in some American mansions and state capitals. Bohemian crystal appears on formal dining tables from Europe to the Americas, and even in Japan. Some of the first large scale radar screens were made of Bohemian glass, as were many early test tubes and breakers. Today, sculptures of Czech glass appear in the modern art collections of major museums the world over. Bohemian glass has been everywhere and done everything that glass can do.
Through The Legend of Bohemian Glass, Antonin Langhamer brings to life the whole depth and breadth of Czech glass achievement. The book covers its entire history, not only artistic, glossary at the back is more than just a place to look up terms, but an illuminating narrative on every aspect of glass, from ancient times to the present. The work is illustrated with lush photographs created by outstanding photographers who specialize in capturing the breathtaking beauty unique to glass.
In Langhamer's narratives on early times, readers will find fascinating parallels with the behavior of modern people, nations and industries. Despite its early origins, Bohemian glass took considerable time to reach prominence. Beginning in obscurity, Bohemian glassmakers produced wares that for a long time were good, but not exceptional. They tagged behind the Venetians, who became the unchallenged masters of medieval glass. The Bohemians were learning, however. By the mid-1500s, their work was influencing other glassmakers in the region, and 100 years later, they could produce baroque glass as masterful as anything from Venice. By the 1700s, high-quality glass beads from Bohemia were so popular in Venice itself that they were helping to put some Venetian glassworks out of business. Import bans and other protectionist measures by the Venetian government did little to stem the threat, and eventually some glasshouses there had to hire and learn from Bohemian glassmakers just to keep current.
Bohemia's history has been turbulent, and readers can draw inspiration from the ingenuity and persistence of those glassmakers who succeeded against overwhelming odds. While World War II was raging in the midst of shortage of every imaginable commodity, a Czech entrepreneur built himself a little glass furnace. Raw materials became hard to come by, so he made do by remelting crushed bottles. Coal and wood were difficult to obtain, so he heated his kiln with peat dug up from local bogs. What he didn't lack was skill and artistic vision. His little glassworks grew to be one of the most artistically respected studios in the world, surviving not only the war, but 40 years of communism, and sustaining operations to this day.
The Legend of Bohemian Glass is full of such stories of human valor and weakness, the development of technical and artistic marvels, legal harassment, sex discrimination, industrial espionage, and the triumph of ambition over adversity. But it also tells of ordinary people doing their ordinary work throughout their ordinary lives, and thereby achieving something magnificent. Glass affects everyone's life, and everyone's life, in some small way, affects the evolution of glass. Readers will never see glass in the same way again.
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