Orrefors Petal Bowl
Vintage 1970s Swedish Decorative Bowls
Art Glass
2010s German Decorative Bowls
Crystal
Vintage 1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Glass
Glass
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21st Century and Contemporary French Books
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2010s American Modern Table Lamps
Steel, Brass, Silver Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Barware
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21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Sofas
Velvet, Walnut
1960s Pop Art Sculptures
Nylon
2010s Italian Minimalist Figurative Sculptures
Murano Glass
2010s Italian Minimalist Figurative Sculptures
Murano Glass
2010s Italian Minimalist Figurative Sculptures
Murano Glass
2010s Italian Minimalist Figurative Sculptures
Murano Glass
Antique Late 19th Century English Victorian Card Tables and Tea Tables
Lacquer
1980s Pop Art Abstract Prints
Lithograph, Offset
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tables
Carrara Marble
Early 2000s Modern Figurative Sculptures
Blown Glass
Vintage 1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Glass
Art Glass
Vintage 1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
2010s Italian Minimalist Figurative Sculptures
Murano Glass
Orrefors for sale on 1stDibs
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.