Sometimes it takes years to find the correct identification for a vase or group of vases, and researchers routinely consult available literature without questioning the validity of the information being provided. I have made more than one unfortunate mistake by trusting information in my research library. As a result, I have decided to trust my intuition and develop a keen eye for shape and decor.
The only printed source for information on Czech and Bohemian glass, as of this date, continues to be the 7 volume Passau Museum Catalog. Unfortunately, it came out 20 years ago, in 1989, and it has not been updated since. Nowadays, new evidence suggests that some of its pieces have been misidentified. In the PMC, these three vases are listed as Josephinenhütte.  1. PMC V, 77;107-108 The note on tthe two on the right provides a reference: The decor was applied by Julius C. Maess, the reference is Pazaurek. There are no vases in this picture with the same shape as the PM picture, but the third vase on the right has the same decoration.
 2. PAZAUREK 1901, 123: 136
Identification of these vases as Josephinenhütte was based on decoration as confirmed by the the next picture, in which a supposedly Josephinehutte vase appears with Kralik's documented "Silveria" decor [see my article on Kralik for www.loetz.com]
 3. PMC V. 78:109
I own this shape in the Kralik purple threaded decor:
 The vase on the extreme left in P.1 shows the same decor as a Kralik takeoff on Loetz Phänomen shown in the PMC:
 Decorating companies used to acquire blanks from other companies and apply their own decorative patterns to them. Therefore, it is quite possible to have both Josephinenhütte and Kralik blanks decorated by Karl C. Moess. Two of the four similarly shaped vases classified as Josephinenhütte in PM V 77-78 were decorated by Hoess; the other two bear no relationship to Josephinenhütte. All four are Kralik. |