Sweden’s oldest glass company, Kosta Boda, also enjoys a reputation as the country’s most artistic and experimental glassmaker. Since the late 19th century, Kosta Boda has hired painters, sculptors and other artists for short stints — generally two or three years — designing glassware, ensuring that the firm’s aesthetic is always lively and fresh.
Two former army officers founded Kosta Boda in 1742 in Sweden’s densely forested Småland province. (Plentiful timber was needed as fuel for the melting furnaces.) The glassworks’ early products consisted of everyday glassware, such as drinking vessels and windowpanes. As the company recruited master craftsmen from Bohemia, it created fine crystal for an aristocratic clientele.
Kosta Boda began making art glass — that is, unique and limited edition pieces — with the hiring of the painter Gunnar Wennerberg in 1898. Wennerberg worked in the Art Nouveau style and brought a lush, organic look to the company’s wares. He was followed to the firm by artists such as Edvin Ollers, who in the early 20th century created rich geometric and abstract floral patterns that were engraved on clear crystal.
Two postwar Kosta Boda designers stand foremost in the minds of collectors. One is Vicke Lindstrand, who excelled at a technique called cased glass, in which a vividly colored or patterned section of glass is surrounded by and seems to float within a clear crystal body. The other is Erik Höglund, who had an almost artisanal eye for glass shapes, and liked to produce glass that had a textured, warped look.
Kosta Boda created works in an astonishing array of styles, with something to suit any taste.
Find vintage Kosta Boda vases, bowls and other furniture and objects for sale on 1stDibs.
Mid-Century Swedish Modern Ice Paperweights by Kosta Boda V Lindstrand 5 Pcs
By Vicke Lindstrand, Kosta Boda
Located in Port Jervis, NY
Beautiful hand carved and etched glass Art Glass Paperweights or just decorative pieces from Kosta Boda artists such as Vicke Lindstrand and others. 4 pieces by Kodta Boda and 1 by a...
Art Glass
Glass Paperweight by Goran Warff for Kosta Boda, Rare Find
By Göran Wärff, Kosta Boda
Located in Bochum, NRW
Beautiful and heavy paperweight designed by Goran Warff and made by KostaBoda in the 1960s. Hand made of glass, this paperweight is sophisticate, featuring green and blue waves of gl...
Art Glass
Anna Ehrner Kosta Boda Cobalt Blue Crystal Paperweight, 1990s
By Anna Ehrner, Kosta Boda
Located in Moreno Valley, CA
Anna Ehrner for Kosta Boda white crystal paperweight or votive candle holder. Kosta Boda white crystal candle holder by Anna Ehrner, 1990s A Kosta Boda votive...
Crystal
$128Sale Price|43% Off
Kosta Boda Sweden Crystal Musk Ox Wooly Ox Göran Wärff Limited Edition WWF
By Göran Wärff, Kosta Boda
Located in Lutz, FL
Scandinavian Clear glass Muskox sculpture figurine designed by Goran Warff in 1973 for Kosta Boda as part of World Wildlife Fund" (WWF) Endangered Animals series. signed Kosta Warff ...
Crystal
1970s Italian Ceramic Smoking Set: Blue Ashtray & Lighter
Located in Roma, IT
Smoking Set is a decorative object realized in the 1970s. A ceramic blue colored smoking set composed by a lighter and an ashtray. Dimensions: Lighter: h.7.5 x 7 cm Ashtray: h. ...
Ceramic
Art Glass Ashtray, Italy, 1970s, 15 cm Diameter, Vintage Decor Piece
Located in Roma, IT
Glass ashtray is an object realized in 1970s. Art glass, D 15 x 4 cm. Very good conditions!
Art Glass
Vintage Art Glass Paperweight, Italy, Contemporary Design, 1970s
Located in Roma, IT
Vintage glass paperweight is an original Contemporary Design Object realized in the 1970s. Original art glass. Made in Italy. Dimensions...
Art Glass
Vintage 12.5-Inch Cobalt Blue Glass Ashtray from Italy, 1970s
Located in Roma, IT
Vintage cobalt blue ashtray is an elegant glass decorative object, realized during the 1970s. Vibrant cobalt blue ashtray will help add...
Glass
$2,842
H 9.65 in W 4.73 in D 3.15 in
Vicke Lindstrand Glass Vase, Kosta Sweden, Scandinavian Modern, 1960s
By Vicke Lindstrand
Located in Limhamn, Skåne län
Glass vase designed by Vicke Lindstrand. Produced by Kosta in Sweden. Signed ‘Kosta 46451 Lindstrand – Minne från Tempo'.
Glass
Kosta Boda Line White Wine
By Anna Ehrner
Located in Wilkes Barre, PA
Line from Kosta Boda has been in production since 1982. The collection is unique, with a thread of spun glass applied on each product by hand – a symbol of high-quality Swedish craft...
Crystal
$295
H 3.75 in Dm 5.5 in
Mid-Century Swedish Modern Art Glass Footed Bowl by Goran Warff for Kosta Boda
By Goran and Ann Warff, Kosta Boda
Located in Port Jervis, NY
Fantastic art glass footed bowl with Bullicante decorative trapped air bubbles as the subtle artistic creation along with green to blue in the center. Signed on bottom. In excellent...
Art Glass
Göran Wärff for Kosta Boda Zoom Art Glass Bowl Catchall, Sweden
By Kosta Boda, Boda, Göran Wärff
Located in Bad Säckingen, DE
Striking Swedish studio art glass bowl or sculptural catchall designed by Göran Wärff for Kosta Boda, from the Zoom series. The piece is characterized by its broad, shallow circular...
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass
Midcentury Crystal Ashtray from Kosta, 1960s
By Kosta Glasbruk 1
Located in Esbjerg, DK
Thick and heavy cigar ashtray. It is made from polished lead crystal. Signed and numbered beneath its base. The signature looks like EH so it was probably designed by Erik Hoglund.
Crystal
Vintage ice glass ashtray by Kosta Boda, Sweden, 1970s
By Kosta Boda
Located in Miklavž Pri Taboru, SI
Amazing ice glass ashtray by Kosta Boda made in Sweden in the 1970s. The vintage ashtray is in excellent vintage condition. Dimensions: Width: 16...
Glass
$2,500
H 7.49 in W 6.7 in D 5.12 in
Vicke Lindstrand for Kosta Boda 1950's Clear, White, Black and Red Vase
By Vicke Lindstrand, Kosta Boda
Located in Mexico City, MX
The vase has a few minor scratches from use at its bottom where it also has "Kosta LU 2013" inscribed as pictured. A pioneer of modern Swedish glass, Vicke Lindstrand played a key r...
Blown Glass
$143Sale Price|61% Off
H 5.52 in W 1.38 in D 3.35 in
Mid-Century Modern Sea Lion Paperweight by Folke Walving, Sweden
Located in Glasgow, GB
A modernist-style sea lion paperweight, crafted in the 1960s by Swedish glassmaker Folke Walving. Made from clear, sparkling lead crystal, the sculptur...
Crystal
Kosta Boda Line Flute
By Anna Ehrner
Located in Wilkes Barre, PA
Line from Kosta Boda has been in production since 1982. The collection is unique, with a thread of spun glass applied on each product by hand – a symbol of high-quality Swedish craft...
Crystal
$475
H 6 in W 6 in D 4 in
Swedish Mid-Century Modern Translucent Glass Vase by Göran Wärff for Kosta Boda
By Göran Wärff, Kosta Boda
Located in New York, NY
This stunning sculptural vase base was realized by Göran Wärff for Kosta Boda in Sweden circa 1960. It features an ovoid body with an assymetrical cavern in the center- imbuing the p...
Glass
Mid-Century Modern Kosta Boda "Royal Arts Collection" Vase by Göran Wärff
By Kosta Boda, Göran Wärff
Located in New York, NY
This elegant Mid-Century Modern translucent glass vase was designed by the esteemed Goran Warff for Kosta Boda, circa 1960. It features an orbital body with rounded shoulders and a c...
Glass
Kosta Boda Glass Iceberg with Carved Seal
By Kosta Boda
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Kosta Boda glass iceberg bookend or paperweight with carved seal head.
Glass
Eik Höglund - Glass Paperweights
By Kosta Boda, Erik Höglund
Located in MAASTRICHT, LI
Product Description: These paperweights by Erik Höglund will definitely brighten up your workplace. Höglund was a family man who got inspired by the creative process in his younger years already. A smart rebellious moderniser at heart Höglund, having his work refused at the glass shops of Sweden, set up his own exhibitions and convinced the art director at boda that with time customers would flock in. Hard work paid off and Höglund won the prestigious Danish Luning prize in 1957. Sales skyrocketed along with his fame, earning him the name "wonder boy" in the United States. Höglund did not consider himself a glass-artist solely. Höglund combined his glass art with iron in his famous chandeliers, painted on canvas and sculpted in bronze and terracotta. All the paperweights have a figurative relief pressed into them. A naked woman is pressed into two of the paperweights, the two blue paperweights hold a ship anchor, the blank rectangular paperweight a robot and a cat houses...
Glass
Set of Two Kosta Boda Crystal Paperweights Mushroom & Owl by Lindstrand, Warff
By Kosta Boda, Vicke Lindstrand, Göran Wärff
Located in Chesterfield, NJ
Set of two hand blown clear crystal paperweights by Kosta Boda, Sweden. This set includes one mushroom paperweight designed by Goran Warff, and one owl paperweight designed by Vicke Lindstrand. Both are signed and numbered and the mushroom...
Glass
Sold
H 5 in W 3.5 in D 3.5 in
Kosta Boda Orange and Cobalt Blue Glass Paperweight Sculpture Desk Accessory
By Kosta Boda
Located in North Miami, FL
This Kosta Boda glass paperweight sculpture has immersions of an orange blob floating inside the clear. It has tiny dots on top and looks like an orange marshmallow...
Blown Glass
Sold
H 3.88 in W 5.5 in D 1.38 in
1980s Kosta Boda Sweden Crystal Art Glass Tiger Paperweight by Bertil Vallien
By Bertil Vallien, Kosta Boda
Located in Chula Vista, CA
1980s Kosta Boda Sweden Crystal Art glass tiger paperweight by Bertil Vallien Vintage glass tiger figurine paperweight Zoo Series designed by Bertil Va...
Crystal
Sold
H 2.37 in W 2.37 in D 0.79 in
Bertil Vallien for Kosta Boda Sweden Mini Sculpture My Heart, 1990's
By Kosta Boda
Located in Delft, NL
Dimensions: 6cm H, 6cm W, 2cm D Condition: Mint Period: 1990’s Producer: Kosta Boda Origin: Sweden Designer: Bertil Vallien.
Glass
Sold
H 5.5 in Dm 3.5 in
Set of Three Kosta Boda Paperweights Mushrooms and Owl by Lindstrand and Warff
By Kosta Boda, Vicke Lindstrand, Göran Wärff
Located in Chesterfield, NJ
Set of three paperweights by Kosta Boda, Sweden. This set includes two mushroom paperweights designed by Goran Warff, and one owl paperweight designed by Vicke Lindstrand. All are si...
Glass