Kosta Boda Ashtrays
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 post-war 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. As you will see from the many pieces available on 1stDibs, Kosta Boda created works in an astonishing array of styles, with something to suit any taste.
1950s Scandinavian Modern Vintage Kosta Boda Ashtrays
Glass, Art Glass
Late 20th Century Swedish Minimalist Kosta Boda Ashtrays
Crystal
1930s Swedish Art Deco Vintage Kosta Boda Ashtrays
Art Glass
1930s Czech Vintage Kosta Boda Ashtrays
Art Glass, Glass
21st Century and Contemporary French Kosta Boda Ashtrays
Concrete
2010s American Kosta Boda Ashtrays
Blown Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Kosta Boda Ashtrays
Glass, Art Glass, Murano Glass
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Kosta Boda Ashtrays
Murano Glass
1920s French Art Nouveau Vintage Kosta Boda Ashtrays
Art Glass
2010s American Kosta Boda Ashtrays
Blown Glass
Late 20th Century German Modern Kosta Boda Ashtrays
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Belgian Art Deco Kosta Boda Ashtrays
Chrome
20th Century American Art Deco Kosta Boda Ashtrays
Crystal
1990s French Modern Kosta Boda Ashtrays
Bakelite
Mid-20th Century German Art Deco Kosta Boda Ashtrays
Porcelain
Late 20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Kosta Boda Ashtrays
Art Glass
1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Kosta Boda Ashtrays
Crystal