This is a lovely and unique, cameo embedded recumbent lion themed hand blown fine quality art glass paperweight; from the Northern Bohemian region of Czechoslovakia, produced at the turn of the century (1900); placing a sulphide figure of the lion directly into the molten, sharply cut, 8 faceted green colored glass paperweight. The sharply cut vertical melon shaped facets are elongated and run the entire surface top to bottom . The lion is the main attraction and is installed as a cameo, and appears three dimensional when viewing through adjacent facets simultaneously. The difficult task of creating a mottled green spatter ground, portrays the illusion of the lion in a realistic posture, lying down in the grass.This style of using a cameo in the shape of an animal, was used from the late 1800’s until the 1920’s, utilizing the sulphide method. This process was also applied to large marbles in America at that time. This is a beautiful and fine piece of art glass; the technique used was made famous and perfected by the Northern Bohemian Czechs in the early 1900’s.
At 4 1/2″ high this example is on the upper end; size wise (magnum), making it especially desirable, more so by the fact that it is “lion themed”, and in excellent and completely all original condition with no chips or cracks; simply a top of the line period art glass antique.
Dimensions: 4 1/2″ high x 3 1/2″ wide
Note: I am a second generation antiques dealer and have been in business, buying, selling, and collecting, for 50 years; I am also a member of several prestigious antique associations. Thus, I am well qualified to inspect and evaluate the products I offer for sale and I guarantee this to be authentic and as I have described.