A.D. Copier, One-off Thick Glass 'Aquarium' Vase, Glass factory Leerdam, 1952

Beautiful green thick glass 'Acquarium' vase with decoration of fish and seahorse, designed by Andries Dirk Copier for Glass Factory Leerdam, 1952. Signed 'A.D. Copier Leerdam Unica AD 504'. From 1937 onwards Copier made unique glass objects with figurative decorations. In the art, applied arts and architecure of that time, austere design was abandoned in favor of decorative detail. At the Swedish factory Orrefors, Edvin Öhrstrom designed his first figuratively decorated, unique glass in 1937. These Ariël glasses are similar to the figurative works by Copier. However, the manufacturing technique is entirely different. Copier had animal and plant figures, in this case a fish and sea horse, applied in relief to the hot glass bubble by means of strip-iron seals. After this, on top of each seal imprint, a colorless layer of glass was guided across the relief with the utmost care, so that air bubbles would remain beneath the surface. The entire piece was then made smooth and subsequently covered with a thick layer of clear glass. Copier continued to use these relief decorations until early 1950s. Producing these Unica pieces was a complicated matter, and an entire crew of people was needed to work on a single object. By way of their monumentality and technical perfection, the thick-walled Unica pieces with relief decorations are among the best work produced by Copier.