Carl Erickson Sommerso Vase, American Art Studio Glass 1940s-1950s

Sculptural, heavy Mid Century Modern clear glass decorative vase or vessel was created by Carl Erickson for Erickson Glass Works. The vase is decorated with controlled bubbles that are radiating upwards from its base; asymmetrical, free-flowing rim juxtaposes the regular bubble's pattern, guiding the eye along the lines of the piece. The vase is signed by the artist in etching on the bottom; it is in good vintage condition with slight, age-appropriate signs of use on the bottom. This piece will work very well in any style of interior or would make a great gift for an art and design enthusiast. Carl Erickson (1899-1966) worked at Pairpoint Manufacturing Company, joining his father as an apprentice and spending the next 20 years developing a high level of craftsmanship, including precision use of controlled bubbles, a technique often associated with Pairpoint, that was widely used by Erickson in his own glass designs. In the early 1930s he was employed by Libbey Glass and from 1937 - by the Blenko Glass Company. After leaving Blenko, Carl founded his own art glass studio in Bremen, Ohio in 1943. Erickson glass was hand blown, so no two pieces could be identical. Erickson made reproductions for a number of museums, including the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, D.C., Old Sturbridge Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Corning Museum of Glass, and the Ohio State Historical Society Museum. Many of his glass creations have been selected for display at several distinguished museums, and in 1953 a traveling display...

Striking Organic Modern vase was hand blown with thin layer of white glass underlying the two-toned coral glass. The coral-beige swirls were arranged in abstract, graphic pattern on light coral background, with the whole structure enclosed in clear glass in sommerso technique. Minimal shape and color palette of the piece allows the delicate, subtle flow of the pattern to take the center stage. The vase is signed and dated by the artist on the bottom. Founded in 1979 by brothers Matthew and Thomas Buechner III in Corning's Market Street District, Vitrix Hot Glass Studio is regarded among America's prominent contemporary glass studios. Thomas Buechner (1926-2010) attended Princeton University, the Art Students League in New York and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Buechner was appointed Director of the Corning Museum of Glass in 1950 after his tenure as an exhibition designer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Buechner established the Museum's academic journals and curated the groundbreaking exhibition, Glass 59, that was the first to explore international works in contemporary glass. The first Director of The Corning Museum of Glass (1950-1960) and then Director of the Brooklyn Museum (1960-1971), Buechner simultaneously worked as an illustrator for the Chicago Tribune’s and the Washington Post’s “Book World”. Since then, he has been an independent artist, and a mentor to many aspiring artists in the community. As author and lecturer, Buechner is known to glass scholars, artists and collectors. He wrote the glass section for the Encyclopedia Britannica and founded both the Journal of Glass Studies and the New Glass Review. His art has been acquired by museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American Art. He taught in Rome and Germany, Corning and Elmira. Thomas Kelly is an established glass artist working in Vitrix Hot Glass studio in Corning, New York. He started in the glass studios of Alex Brand and Thomas Buechner where he had the opportunity to learn from two distinctly different artists, each having their own unique talents; Kelly worked for 10 years with Thomas Buechner III at Vitrix Hot Glass Studio, developing his glass working skills and aesthetic sensitivity. At Vitrix, visiting artists such as Lino Tagliapietra and Fritz Dreisbach...

1950s pair of green art glass vase bookends with a beautiful bullicante pattern by Erickson Glass Works. These vase bookends have a bulbous shape with one flat side and feature Erick...

A blown glass Sommerso vase designed by Nils Landberg and produced by Orrefors, Sweden, 1950s