Orrefors Bottles
The Swedish design philosophy of “beautiful things for everyday life” is actualized in the vintage glassware of Orrefors. Founded in 1898, this glass manufacturer was one of the leading companies in the Scandinavian modernism movement and is revered by collectors for the fine craftsmanship and innovation of its superlative art glass.
Orrefors began making art glass — works that, distinct from mass-production pieces, are made in small numbers to showcase the skills and talents of artists and artisans — in 1913. Two of the first artists hired by the firm were Simon Gate and Edward Hald, who worked initially in the organic Art Nouveau style, and later proved adept with the geometric imagery of the Art Deco period.
Hald and Gate worked closely with glassblowers to refine traditional glassmaking methods, creating new materials such as "graal" glass. In the graal technique a design made with colored glass is encased in layers of transparent glass, preserving the image while the overall glass form is worked and shaped. Orrefors won an international following when it presented such pieces in Paris in 1925 at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes — the design fair whose name gave rise to the term Art Deco.
In the years following that success, Orrefors attracted more dynamic and experimental artists such as Vicke Lindstrand and Edvin Ohrström, who joined the company in the 1930s. Lindstrand and Ohstrom worked with glassblowers to create the "ariel" glass technique, an innovation that produces deeper, richer imagery that seems to morph and flow as light is refracted by the glass.
As you will see from the items offered on 1stDibs, there is a special aesthetic quality to vintage Orrefors glass. Whether a vase or a set of wine goblets, the work of this premier Swedish company represents the apex of functional artistry.
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Creator: Orrefors
Fine Crystal Perfume Bottle With Faceted Stopper By Orrefors, Sweden. c1980's
By Orrefors
Located in Rothley, Leicestershire
Beautiful and pure, crystal clear perfume bottle by Orrefors, Sweden
Unusually faceted, cut crystal stopper completes this most appealing piece
Circa 1980's
Height with stopper 3.5 ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Orrefors Bottles
Materials
Crystal
Orrefors Sweden Thick Blown and Handmade Art Glass Perfume Bottle Heart Stopper
By Orrefors
Located in Miami, FL
Vintage clear signed Orrefors blown and handmade art glass perfume bottle with a heart shaped stopper.
Scandinavian Mid-Century Modern Vessel made in Sweden circa 1980s.
Heavy perf...
Category
Late 20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Orrefors Bottles
Materials
Art Glass, Blown Glass
Vintage Mid-Century Orrefors Crystal Decanter with Stopper
By Orrefors
Located in Soquel, CA
Elegant Mid-Century Modern vintage crystal decanter with stopper by Orrefors (Swedish, founded 1898), c. 1960's. Engraved signature to base Orrefors HM 2498 - this particular style was by Edvard Hall.
Includes original red Orrefors Sweden sticker with logo.
"Orrefors HM 2498" etched into base.
Measures 11.5" H x 3" W x 3" D.
Orrefors Glassworks was founded in 1898 on the same site where ironworks operations had been run since 1726. In the same year that the glassworks was founded, a hot shop was built for making technical, medical and household glass and stemware to make use of waste wood and labour. Glass now replaced the less profitable ironworks operations.
In 1913, Consul Johan Ekman from Gothenburg became the new owner of Orrefors Glassworks. He appointed Albert Ahlin as manager of the glassworks and this marked the start of a new era. In 1914, Orrefors started manufacturing crystal products, and as well as cut crystal according to purchased patterns and samples, Orrefors made art glass using the overlay technique with etched decoration. The new management quickly saw that artists were needed in the business, so Simon Gate was employed in 1916 and was joined by Edward Hald a year later.
That same year, Gate and Hald made their first tentative attempts at figure engraving. They also experimented with the new innovative graal (grail) glass technique that was developed at Orrefors by the master glassblower Knut Bergqvist. The major successes were achieved a few years later at the Gothenburg Exhibition in 1923, and in particular at the Paris Exhibition in 1925. The thin engraved glass was admired by the surrounding world, and both Orrefors and the artists themselves were awarded the Grand Prix.
The successes of Simon Gate and Edward Hald in Paris in 1925 constituted the start of the long Orrefors tradition of creative design closely combined with genuine and innovative craftsmanship.
Since then, new designers and skilled glassmakers have continued in the spirit of Gate and Hald. Vicke Lindstrand and Edvin Öhrström with the new glass technique called Ariel in the 1930s. Sven Palmqvist with Kraka and Ravenna in the 1940s. And in the 1950s with Fuga, which, along with Nils Landberg’s slender tulip-shaped glass “Tulpan” and Ingeborg Lundin’s apple-shaped vase “Äpplet”, are now seen as symbols of the renaissance of Swedish design. The 1960s are associated with Gunnar Cyrén’s Pop glass, and in the 1970s, Eva Englund, Olle Alberius, Lars Hellsten and Jan Johansson as well as Cyrén worked at the glassworks.
Since the 1980s, designers such as Anne Nilsson, Erika Lagerbielke, Helen Krantz, Matz Borgström, Per B Sundberg, Martti Rytkönen, Lena Bergström, Ingegerd Råman, Malin Lindahl and Efva Attling...
Category
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Orrefors Bottles
Materials
Crystal
Mid-Century Modern Orrefors Glass Vase
By Orrefors
Located in Bochum, NRW
Beautifully shaped, very heavy glass bottle vase, by Orrefors, Sweden, 1970s.
Excellent condition.
Original manufacturer label
Dimensions: 24 x 10 x 26.5 cm
Mid-Century Modern Sc...
Category
1970s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Orrefors Bottles
Materials
Glass
Ingeborg Lundin Glass Apple Vase, Orrefors Glassworks, 1957
By Orrefors, Ingeborg Lundin
Located in New York, NY
Mid century glass artist Ingeborg Lundin's glass apple vase was made for Orrefors Glassworks. It's a hand blown clear glass vase designed for Milan Triennial Exhibition in 1957. Orre...
Category
20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Orrefors Bottles
Materials
Blown Glass
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Midcentury Nils Landberg Orrefors Tall Expo Vase, circa 1950s
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Orrefors Ariel Glass Vase with Busts of Women Designed by Edvin Öhrström 1960
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Fish Graal Vase by Edward Hald for Orrefors, Sweden
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Baccarat 'Rohan' Engraved Crystal Decanter with Stopper
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Scandinavian Mid-Century Modern Translucent Glass Vase by Orrefors
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This elegant and understated Mid-Century Modern vase was realized by the renowned maker, Orrefors, in Sweden, circa 1960. It features to intersecting demilune forms that meet to crea...
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Ingeborg Lundin Orrefors Applet Expo Series 1964
By Orrefors
Located in Toledo, OH
Ingeborg Lundin (1921-1991) for Orrefors Applet from Expo Series 1964. Signed.
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Elsa Peretti 1981 Tiffany & Co Carved Rock Quartz Limited Edition Perfume Bottle
By Elsa Peretti for Tiffany & Co.
Located in Miami, FL
Perfume bottle designed by Elsa Peretti (1940-2021) for Tiffany & Co.
Exceptional piece of modern art, designed at the Tiffany Studios by Elsa Peretti. This rare perfume-scent bottle was made in a limited edition of only 1000 pieces, back in the 1981. It was carefully carved in Hong Kong from a single piece of translucent rock quartz with curved in shape to echo an sculptural bean, with separate stopper lid.
ELSA PERETTI DESIGN: the scent bottle
Manufacturing Process
This bottle was designed and made in 1981 to hold an eighth of an ounce of Elsa Peretti's perfume, which she had worked on for four years. One thousand examples were carved and numbered (this is no. 751) in conjunction with the launch of the perfume.
Peretti's hardstone carving is all done by Chinese carvers in Hong Kong. The Chinese have long excelled in the carving of hardstones. Peretti's scent-bottle echoes the Chinese hardstone snuff-bottle, made to be held in the hand, exquisitely decorated and highly prized in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Weight: 65.3 Grams, (41.86 Dwt) or 326.5 carats.
Measurements: 64 mm by 19 mm by 44 mm (2.51 x 0.75 x 1.75 Inches).
Hallmarks: Acid stamped and etched with the maker's mark, the edition number and signed, "TIFFANY PERETTI© 751".
Elsa Peretti, was a very famous designer that joined Tiffany & Co in the 1974 and change the complete role of diamonds and color gemstones in fashion for the everyday wear and elevating the status of the sterling silver jewelry. mostly using unusual gemstones and materials. all her creations are as modern today as ever.
Literature: Advertisement in the Los Angeles Times, November 29, 1981. Tiffany & Co. Blue Book for years 1981-1982, illustrated
Collections: The British Museum, London, UK. The Museum Of Modern Art (MOMA), NYC, United States. The Corning Museum Of Glass, NYC, United States.
Exhibitions and Awards: 2009 1 May-2010 31 Jan, London, BM, Room 2, 'Elsa Peretti: Jewellery and objects for Tiffany & Co. Premio award "Credere Nella Ricerca", 2010.
Note: Today you can purchase a similar one at Tiffany & Co., but is a re-issue of this work of art and is not numbered. At the time, the bottle was sold with a half-ounce of pure perfume created just for this purpose. Information about the actual scent is hard to come by; apparently it was a blend of florals, spices, and vetiver, but that’s a very general description, of course. Various news stories noted the high price ($450) of this set, but some also admitted that you were buying a piece of modern design rather than a typical perfume bottle. According to the British Museum, where one of these bottles is on display, artisans in Hong Kong were commissioned to carve these bottles, each out of a single piece of rock. These artisans were chosen because they specialize in carving hardstone.
Elsa Peretti for Halston Perfume...
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H 1.75 in W 2.51 in D 0.75 in
Seguso Vetri d'Arte Murano Pulegoso Green Gold Italian Art Glass Perfume Bottle
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H 3.25 in W 2.25 in D 3.25 in
1960's Swedish Crystal Vase by Orrefors
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Ariel "Gondoliere" Vase by Edvin Öhrström for Orrefors, Sweden
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Previously Available Items
Vintage Decanter and Stopper by Orrefors, ca 1960s
By Orrefors
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vintage crystal decanter and stopper made in the 1960s by Orrefors.
The bottle labeled and in very good condition, the stopper has a co...
Category
1980s German Modern Vintage Orrefors Bottles
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Crystal
Pair of Clear Glass Orrefors Decanters by Vicke Lindstrand Mid-Century Modern
By Orrefors, Vicke Lindstrand
Located in Topeka, KS
Handsome pair of Mid-Century Modern clear blown glass decanters designed by Vicke Lindstrand for Orrefors. They are in wonderful vintage condition with no chips, cracks, or chiggers ...
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Mid-20th Century Scandinavian Scandinavian Modern Orrefors Bottles
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Blown Glass
Orrefors bottles for sale on 1stDibs.
Orrefors bottles are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of glass and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Orrefors bottles, although black editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original bottles by Orrefors were created in the mid-century modern style in sweden during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider bottles by Kosta Boda, and Holmegaard. Prices for Orrefors bottles can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $295 and can go as high as $6,500, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $427.
Questions About Orrefors Bottles
- What country is Orrefors from?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertFebruary 13, 2023Orrefors is from Sweden. The glassworks opened in Orrefors, Småland, in 1898 and began producing drinking vases, drinkware and other home goods in 1913. Shop a range of Orrefors glassware on 1stDibs.
- Are all Orrefors signed?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022If the Orrefors piece was made using the Ariel technique, then yes, the piece will be signed by the artist and will also have a serial number and date code to help specify the production date. Shop a collection of expertly vetted Orrefors designs from some of the world’s top boutiques on 1stDibs.
- Is Orrefors Swedish?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertJune 30, 2023Yes, Orrefors is Swedish. The glassworks produces its luxury crystalware at a factory in a village called Orrefors, located in Småland, Sweden. It has operated there since 1898. On 1stDibs, shop a range of Orrefors crystal pieces from some of the world’s top sellers.
- How do you identify Orrefors?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertFebruary 17, 2023To identify Orrefors, look for a signature on the bottom of the piece. All pieces made after 1930 typically show the Orrefors name, a serial number and the word "Graal," which refers to the technique used to produce the maker's crystalware. You may also see the word "Sweden" or "Suède" on some pieces. Prior to 1947, Orrefors also indicated the year of production under the signature. If you're still uncertain of the authenticity, consider using the services of a certified appraiser. Find a variety of Orrefors pieces on 1stDibs.
- Is Orrefors crystal lead free?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertMarch 3, 2023Whether Orrefors crystal is lead-free depends on its age. Since 1951, the brand hasn't used lead in its pieces. Earlier crystal ware may contain lead. On 1stDibs, shop an assortment of Orrefors crystal glassware and decorative objects.