There are four indispensable tools for identifying Loetz glass:
2. Lötz: Böhmisches Glas 1880-1940 (1989); commonly known as Ricke 1 and 2.
3. Das Böhmische Glas 1700-1950 (1995). The fourth volume of the 7-volume Passau Museum Catalog, which is also the only source, other than www.loetz.com for other manufacturers of the period.
4. Loetz: Bohemian Glass 1880-1940 (2003), which is a version in English of the Ricke books, with Ricke 2 turned into a mostly unworkable CD.
However, all have inexplicable gaps. There are recognized Loetz decors that have not made it into the "Loetz Canon" and there are dealers and collectors that will pass up a piece because it is not "in the book."
My objective is to provide pictures of the most common Loetz decors, those which are most likely to end up in a collection. I have no Phänomens; too expensive. But what I do have reflects my own personal preferences: Large, functional pieces whenever possible.
LEFT CLICK FOR LARGER PICTURES. ARCADIA (1896-97)
1. RICKE 2, P.45 7869-189;105-1900.
AST GLASS (1899)
 2. AST GLASS GROUP
 3. AST GLASS PAIR
ASTARTIG (1904)
 4. MINIATURE (3")
 5. ASTARTIG GROUP
6. ASTARTIG SINGLE
ASTRÄA (1900)
 7. ASTRÄA GROUP
AUSFUHRUNG
This complex looking word only means "model". I have a few:  8. AUSF 58 (1908)
This is one of my favorite pieces, and rather large.
 9. AUSF 140 (1912)
 This is the exact shape used to illustrate Ausf. 162 in Ricke 1, and it is attributed to Marie Kirschner. No such information or picture in Kantz. I have a feeling it applies to all Loetz tango three-handled pieces.
BUBBLE GLASS (1920's)
This is one of the decors you do not find in any book. However, both pieces have faint traces of the square Loetz mark. More common--and more expensive--are pieces with bright metallic blue leaves, and I have also seen them with brownish or purple leaves.   12. BOULÉ-BOULÉ (1904)
If I have ever been afraid of a piece of glass, this is it!. I consider the surface placement of those golden apples quite poor design.
 13. CEPHALONIA (1904)
I found this piece interesting because the top shows the jagged edge usually found in Astartigs.
CHINÉ (1897)
   14-16, EXAMPLES OF CHINÉ
 | CISELÉ
This term presents a problem, because it is used to designate any type of spotting that is not Papillon, on both clear and opaque glass. "Diana"--green spots on opalescent gray glass--is a type of ciselé, as is cobalt ciselé--blue spots on opalescent jade. But it also refers to what I call 'melon rind", green spots on transparent light green glass, and to a kind of oil spot finish.
 19. DIANA-GREEN CISELÉ
  20-21. RARE COBALT CISELÉ
 22. "MELON RIND" CISELÉ
 23. OIL SPOT CISELÉ
CRACKLE GLASS:
All major Czech manufacturers of the Art Nouveau period, except Pallme-König, made crackle glass. When I visited the Passau Museum, there were shelves full of Loetz crackle glass. However, it has been left out of books and websites.
  24-25. CRACKLE GLASS COLORS
UPDATE! EDDY SCHEEPERS HAS IDENTIFIED LOETZ CRACKLE GLASS AS "MIMOSA". IT WAS PRODUCED ABUNDANTLY DURING 1907-1908 AND COMES IN THE FOUR COLORS DEPICTED ABOVE. FOR MORE INFORMATION, GO THE THE INDEX DECOR AT LOETZ.COM DIASPORA (1902)
Characterized by pockmarks, I remember once reading somewhere that the effect was achieved by throwing oats into the hot glass, which then exploded and disappeared as the glass was tooled, leaving the telltale craters. Kralik also made a version of Diaspora, which is only found in green.
 26. DIASPORA GROUP
The pink is the rarest, as is this shofar horn:
 27. SHOFAR SHAPE
FLORALS
I have grouped here enameled, stenciled, etched and cameo vases with a floral theme. This is the only cameo in my collection, Loetz's cameo production was far inferior to the French. This is a rare example of a three layer cameo:
 28. CAMEO POPPY VASE
This vase in frosted green with an orange enameled Iris marks the beginning of my Loetz obsession. I remember buying it because the curve of its body reminded me of the curve in the skirt of a woman appearing in a Mucha Biscuit Lefevre poster.
 29. FROSTED IRIS ENAMELED
This extravagant small vaseline vase came all the way from Hawaii!
 30. PINK CARNATION
This is a very desirable and rare Loetz line. I have kept the vase as the only example in my collection.
 31. DECORS 1/289; 1/290
I found quite a few pieces of this type at Passau, yet, it is not registered in any book or on the internet.
 32. ETCHED DARK GREEN SILBERIRIS
Though I will cover Olympia glass later, I wanted to include this particular piece with the florals since it was decorated by the same company as the vase in p.29. I also have non-Loetz vases with this kind of enamel, characterized by its heavy texture and orange color.
Research on decorating companies is practically non-existent.
 33. ENAMELED OLYMPIA
This rare vase in periwinkle blue is decorated in Heinrich Sutterlin's distinctive "pastry bag" style.
 8115;1899
808-1900
FORMOSA (1902)
Formosa appears in only two colors: green and the more desirable pink. Rare examples exist in gold. The Formosa crackle vase is quite unusual; it too appears in gold. I would advise buying larger pieces and unusual shapes.
 34. GREEN FORMOSA GROUP
 35. PINK FORMOSA GROUP
PICTURES WILL GET LARGER IF YOU CLICK ON THEM!
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