Identification of Czech Sklo Union Glass 1945-1989 by Marcus Newhall 2006

Czech Sklo Union Glass — Identification
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A base-well, with machine matt polished rim is a reasonable indicator. Machine-cut/unpolished? treat with caution. An example of a non Sklo Union base:		The poor quality seen at the base applies to the whole vase:
Base of a vase by Jan Sylvester Drost for Zabkowicz Glassworks, Poland	Base of a "Gent" vase, made by VLG Lausitz. DDR.
	This is not solely a Sklo Union issue, as some fine, pressed glass, with fire-polishing, ground and polished bases also emanated from elsewhere in Czechoslovakia, for example Jablonec, (see image left. Ashtray by Václav Hanuš for Jablonecke Sklo, Jablonec nad Nisou) Germany and Poland, (see the It Is Not Sklo Union page), and I am aware of some Sklo Union items where the concept of a base-well, with associated cut/polish cannot be a factor, due to design and technological considerations.
	Visible mould lines are not unusual, and this example taken from the same vase is less likely to occur on a Sklo Union piece. In this case it would appear to be a mould issue. However, like all manually-pressed items, produced in very large volumes, quality can vary, particularly the degree to which fire-polishing has been applied, and some pieces will display mould lines which it was not feasible to treat, or considered not to detract from the design.

Do not concern yourself if an item is not precisely 178mm high. These items were for the most part manually pressed. Variations can and do occur, in this case, shown above, three different plungers being used, and that may enough to explain the height variation.

Colours
This image show the unintentional variation in sizes of the same vase/pattern. Initial gathers may have varied, but may also have been caused by the different shape of plunger. Continue reading article
On the whole, all Sklo Union colours were consistent with colours used in other areas of Czech glass-making. I may, of course, be wrong, but I have never seen a Czech post-war piece of pressed glass in any form of olive green, such as used in Scandinavia.
Rudolfova Hut’	Flint, blue, from light to cobalt, amethyst—aubergine, orange, brown, light and dark green, pink. Frosted/matt finishes are also known, occurring on brown, light blue and flint pieces.
Hermanova Hut’	Pink, amethyst, flint, light green
Libochovice	Flint, green, light-blue, yellow
Rosice	Flint, greens in a range from turquoise through to dark green, brown, orange and yellow, light-dark blue/cobalt, pink and amethyst.

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