Arsall

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Under Arsall a number of design pieces of glass in is Art Nouveau (French. Art Nouveau ) understood by the United Lausitzer Glaswerke Weißwasser were produced by special glass processing techniques and sold under its own brand name.

The word “Arsall” is a made-up word, composed of Ars (Latin for art ) and all emand (French for German ).

Historical logo of the glasses by Arsall

history

At the beginning of 1918, the United Lausitzer Glaswerke (VLG) applied for protection for the Arsall signature as a registered trademark . The entry was made on May 10, 1918, was renewed after 10 years on March 15, 1928 and deleted on August 9, 1938 after the protection period had expired. Following the example of Émile Gallé , a French artist and the École de Nancy , which he founded in 1901, the then village of Weißwasser , which developed into the largest glass-producing location in the world, began to sell designer glass under the brand name “Arsall “ To manufacture. For this purpose, colored overlaid glasses with predominantly floral decor in the style of French - Lorraine Art Nouveau were made by hand. With a few exceptions, a model number is etched into or out of the bottom of all Lausitz glasses or, more rarely, written with a copier . Most of them also have a relief-like signature "ARSALL" etched out of the overlay in the lower wall zone. The production of glasses ended in 1929 with the onset of the global economic crisis and its devastating consequences. During the Second World War , the archive of the United Lusatian Glass Works was destroyed, meaning that important historical documents on glass production were lost. Today the Weißwasser Glass Museum shows a selection of Arsall glasses and lamps in its permanent exhibition.

Historic production

The glass bodies consisted of colorless, light green or pink basic glass, onto which different colored layers of glass were applied in double or triple overlays. The color variants violet, red-brown and green dominated the outer overlap. There were also glasses with pink or yellow inner overlaps and glasses with only one overlap as a simpler variant.

From the beginning, the production of the glasses was under the artistic direction of Nicolas Rigot, who together with the Vette brothers in 1918 in the Verreries & Cristalleries de Saint-Louis in Münzthal (near Lemberg in Alsace-Lorraine ) acquired the knowledge of producing colored overlay glasses with etched Dekor acquired and in 1918 settled in Weißwasser with his wife (née Vette) and their three brothers. After his death, Wilhelm Krause was given responsibility for the artistic part. In addition to these two, Richard Thiele and Karl Krause worked on the development of the decors. Ludwig Vette became a smelter, his brothers Johann Baptiste Vette and Eugen Vette and Anton Woszikowski, who immigrated from Poland, were glassmakers. The glassmakers Paul Bittner, Ernst Büttner, Ewald Büttner, Max Schuster and Franz Strobel, among others, were busy manufacturing the basic glass.

Paul Muche, who was regarded as an expert in etching glass, was responsible for creating the decors. Through the etching, the surface of the outermost overlay was matted or completely removed, so that the visibility of deeper levels and thus the contrasts of the different colors come into play. Depending on the number of glass overlays, two to three viewing levels can be displayed in the motifs.

To work out the designed decors by etching, an acid-resistant lacquer was applied manually with a brush to the overlay glasses, which were then immersed in an etching bath for about 1 to 2 hours. By combining hydrofluoric and sulfuric acid , the unpainted areas were partially etched away. After removing the varnish in a hot water bath , the motifs emerged in the desired strength.

Motifs

The decors mainly reflect floral content. Against the background of hills or mountain ranges and river landscapes, blossoms, trees and bushes form prominent elements that corresponded to contemporary Art Nouveau. But there are also indications that the motive wishes of wealthy customers were taken into account.

Trivia

  • Sometimes glass vessels with a height of up to 90 cm were made. Several of them are said to have been in the possession of the aristocratic Arnim family and destroyed as a result of the acts of war in the burned-out Muskau Castle .
  • A large number of such large vases with hunting motifs were also made to order by the Egyptian King Fuad . On the occasion of his trip to Germany at the Weißwasser train station, he was presented with an Arsall table lamp depicting Egyptian landscapes as a gift of honor.

Modern Arsall glass art

The tradition of the Arsall glasses was revived by the glass engineer Gotthard Petrick. He made vases, bowls, beakers and other designer glass based on historical motifs and templates by the designers Monika Janietz-Herrman and Sabine Gutjahr. His pieces have been exhibited repeatedly and sold under the registered trademark worldwide . For this purpose, specially fused, quadruple flashed glass is individually processed using modern technology.

The Krauschwitzer glass artist Michael Penn has also been making glasses in Arsall style since 2016 and is the owner of the rights of the registered Arsall brand .

literature

  • Wolfgang Hennig: Arsall. Lusatian glass in French style 1918–1929 . Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin 1985.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Works by Gallé and Arsall at Kunsthandel Kaehler
  2. ↑ Lausitzer Rundschau: Three new Arsall vases find their way home. In: www.lr-online.de. Retrieved October 31, 2016 .
  3. ^ Arsall glass in the Weißwasser Glass Museum. Weißwasser Glass Museum, October 7, 2010, accessed on April 20, 2012 .
  4. ^ W. Hennig: Special exhibition: Arsall glasses - fascinating glasses in Art Nouveau. (PDF; 4.0 MB) In: The latest news from the Weißwasser Glass Museum, No. 4, pp. 2–3. July 21, 2003. Retrieved April 20, 2012 .
  5. ↑ R. Keller: Arsall glasses - impressive art nouveau products. In: lr-online.de. Lausitzer Rundschau , February 11, 2003, accessed on April 20, 2012 .
  6. ↑ Ingolf Tschätsch: Gotthard Petrick helped «Arsall» to flourish again. In: lr-online.de. Lausitzer Rundschau , March 17, 2003, accessed on April 20, 2012 .
  7. ↑ M. Arlt: Bad Muskauer creates glass beauties. In: lr-online.de. Lausitzer Rundschau , September 5, 2011, accessed on April 20, 2012 .
  8. ↑ Anja Guhlan: Gotthard Petrick designs colorful glass creations. In: lr-online.de. Lausitzer Rundschau , January 6, 2011, accessed on April 20, 2012 .
  9. ↑ Entry on the arsall brand in the tmdb.de brand database
  10. ↑ Precious creations made of glass. Retrieved March 24, 2018 .