When I went to Prague in 2005, I fell in love with Cubism. Oh, I went for the Art Nouveau, don’t get me wrong — but I left loving Cubism, an art movement that had a vigorous, localized growth spurt in Prague from 1910-1914. Most people have seen one of Picasso’s Cubist paintings, but very few know that the Czech Cubists leapt off the canvas and left their mark on typography, architecture, sculpture, interior decor, furniture and everyday items.

Sharp points, slicing planes, crystalline shapes. These are the trademarks of the Czech Cubists – a unique, avant-garde group, feverishly active in Prague between 1910 and 1914. As well as fine art, they left behind them building facades prickling with little pyramids, furniture bursting with energy, and decorative objects dynamized with stark black lines.

Why do I like Cubism?

Cubists attempted to supplant the right-angled forms of modernism with oblique, broken, pyramidal ones; they desired to give shape to the boxlike, modernist interiors through the use of forms reminiscent of the inside of a crystal. (Quote from here, emphasis mine.)

The movement venerates natural, crystalline shapes. How could I not like it??

I went through the Cubist Museum (housed in a peculiar Cubist building) from top to bottom (all four stories.) The one thing I really didn’t see much of was Cubist glasswork. Oh, they had one piece, a candy jar or something, but it wasn’t that exciting. Bohemia, later Czechoslovakia is famous for their glass; perfume bottles especially. Collectors just love the stuff, and have for centuries. I never really thought to wonder whether something like Cubist glass-ANYTHING could be found in Prague, antique or otherwise. (I love art glass. Not just any old glass object, mind you, but a lot of them have Danielle-magnets inside, I admit.)

Anyway. Very long ramble short, I received my birthday presents early from my mother this year, in honor of the big three-o:

Genuine Czech Cubist glass, almost a century old. Two small lidded boxes, and an atomizer — boudoir accessories, basically. (I didn’t think to put it in the pictures below the cut, but the original tassel/bulb cover and cord came with it, but are unusable. I think I can replace the bulb, get a new cord, and …use it!) The color of the two diamond-shaped objects is a green-grey; the rectangular box is a shade between clear platinum and smoky quartz. They are very precious and are living on my dresser, holding my favorite earrings and necklaces. I love-love-love them, and want to share.

MANY pictures below the cut.

One thing striking about all of these objects is that every facet is asymmetrical, down to the tiniest edge. Even the glass inside the lids isn’t of even thickness on the edges. Looking through them gives the most amazing views of angles and shapes. They’re simply spectacular.

And online at least, they’re simply not there. I found one perfume bottle online that, because of the shape of the stopper, looks to be Cubist (I’m putting it here because it’s pretty), but that’s all. I’ve searched through books, websites, everything I can think of, without finding any examples. People just don’t seem to know about this branch of the movement or that objects like this exist! ^^;

Please note, natural-crystal-cluster shaped stopper, VERY asymmetrical.

I’m overexcited but I hope you enjoyed the pictures! ^^