Introducing Glass Magic

The Beginning
We welcome you to visit our highly distinctive collection of contemporary art glass designed and produced by an assembly of Czech glass artists who make their inspirations come true in the heart of the Highlands, on the border between Bohemia and Moravia.

These extraordinary glassworks began in 1940 with Emanuel Beranek who made his original glass in the most primitive conditions. At the time when most of the hand-made glass producers used generator gas heated furnaces, Beranek and his three brothers used peat for heating. Glass products were cut on a crank-brace and bits of bottle glass mixed with charcoal were used as raw materials. These harsh conditions undoubtedly put limits on the production assortment, but at the same time they forced the artists to experiment with glass. Most of the experimental outputs were techniques, which combined with advancing technology, eventually resulted in a variety of the most innovative ideas in glassmaking. One example is the bubble glass. Emanuel Beranek found the way to turn the original glass flaw into a magnificent artistic intricacy.

The air bubbles of the most vivid shapes and sizes are intentionally forced into the glass only where they belong according to the original design of each piece. Under any bright light, these bubbles produce an unforgettable effect. The light reflects in every bubble and bounces back resulting in a soft surrounding glow adding an ultra futuristic tone to any environment. Since its creation, the bubble glass has found admirers throughout the world and we are proud to have these amazing pieces as part of our glass collection.

Since the very beginning, these glassworks stood apart from the commonplace glass production. As the time went on, more and more glass designers and experts joined in the creation of these glass marvels. Today, there are 60+ world-class glass artists who focus solely on the design and production of contemporary glass decorative objects. Among them are glass vases, glass spheres, and decorative glass platters. This is designer glass par excellence. All items are hand made, most of them are hot-shaped without the use of molds. Each piece in this collection reflects the successful synergy of the old-fashioned glass making techniques and the most unique concepts of modern glass design, which will bring to its owner great beauty and delight.

The Magic Itself
Most items in our thick glass collection are made of the traditional soda-potash glass - it is shaped into its final form and decorated while it is still in its molten state right by the furnace. The furnace is the heart of the glasswork.

The work on the following day’s melt begins in the afternoon, towards the end of the working day. The homogeneity and transparency of the fine blown glass are dependent upon the purity of raw inputs and glass-melting methods, that is the ability to reach furnace temperatures over 1450 °C. This temperature is easily reached through fuelling by natural gas, which also permits a working cycle of 24 hours. The mixture of raw materials is loaded into the pots two or three times on any given day. The first load goes in at about 3 pm, at the temperature of 1350 °C to 1400°C. The last usually goes in at 10 pm. The temperature is raised to 1450 °C to drive any air bubbles out of the liquid and to let the glass become pure and homogeneous. The entire process is completed at about 2 am and the temperature is lowered to 1350 - 1280 °C. When the glassmakers arrive at approximately 4:30 am, the glass is ready to be worked. It now has the viscosity necessary for working. It is now that the unshapely chemical compound will become a marvelous piece that will travel many miles, beautify homes throughout the world, perhaps even make someone’s day better, and on a grand scale, become part of the human history. All of this is at the hands of a skilled glassmaker whose personal touch and part of his being will live with each piece for years to come. Most pieces are blown using the flying-hand technique at the working temperature of about 1250 °C. The finished products are carried into electrical cooling furnaces which are pre-set to follow a 48-hour cooling curve to insure a perfect resistance of product against cracking.

"A success of work rests with a man' s determination, concern and love. It is certainly true of any human activity and it is clearly an inseparable condition of all pursuits in the field of any artistic creation. You cannot do without this. To create means to be able to identify yourself with your work, to do more than just the duty of it and to be able to really make use of the best you can do. Work and our total personal devotion are the basic roots of everything we pursue. Nothing goes by itself, each individual achievement is a sum of obstacles overcome, each final perfection comes out of initial confusion, failures and doubts, which have to be handled persistently and with patience. It is only natural that he who loves his work can find the resources within himself to make such an effort and this applied art is no exception. It is just as difficult and requires just as much strain as any other human activity, however, in addition to this, it has to be blessed with a deep personal involvement as the most crucial condition of its success."

Emanuel Beranek