There Is Reason Behind The Extreme Prices Of Art Glass

Florida has its Magic Kingdom, animal buffs can stalk the Wild Kingdom, and Sweden has its Glass Kingdom. If you’re a connoisseur of fine, hand-blown glass, Sweden is definitely the place to go.

The Glass Kingdom is an area in southeast Sweden where you can’t drive for more than two minutes without rolling past a glass factory; there are nearly 20 such factories within a 20-mile range. The undisputed ruler of this kingdom is Orrefors, so naturally I started at the top looking for a job.

I called the factory, quickly admitting my Swedish wasn’t up to par, I didn’t have a Swedish work visa, and I didn’t know the first thing about making glass. But I was eventually passed on to an extremely nice PR person who told me I might be able to try my hand for a day, although she suggested it would be more interesting to work at the Kosta Boda factory, better known for its avant garde style.

A long rival of Orrefors (in fact, Kosta Boda tried to buy Orrefors 20 years ago), Kosta Boda is now owned by the Orrefors Group.

Orrefors is an old Swedish word meaning: “Don’t forget to bring your wallet,” and Kosta Boda means: “While you’re at it, mortgage your home.” Some products, like shot glasses, are within reach of ordinary people, but most collectors are the kind of people who take their polo ponies for haircuts by guys named Phillippe.

In order to work a full day at Kosta Boda, I was told that I would have to wake up at 5:30 a.m. Seeing the stricken look on my face, and since the Glass Kingdom was located several hours from anywhere, they let me spend the night at the Kosta Boda guest house.

I started my brief apprenticeship in the glass-painting department, where they decorate plates, bowls and glasses with elaborate designs. As you might imagine, this requires considerable skill, and during the first hour (starting at 6 a.m.) I didn’t display any. During the second hour, as I gradually woke up, I didn’t improve, but by then I was thoroughly enjoying myself.

What I’d do was take, say, a perfectly nice glass bowl, set it next to the pre-designed model, let Linda, a professional glass painter, help me mix my paints, and paint something on my bowl that didn’t resemble the pre-designed model in the slightest, except for the color scheme - thanks to Linda.

Fortunately, the PR department, sensing a keen opportunity for publicity, had assigned Karin, a young PR intern, to guide me through the large factory, help with occasional translation, and tell me - with a straight face - that every piece of junk I designed was a masterpiece.

After I’d creatively defaced about $100 worth of fine glass, Karin led me to the engraving department, where I learned how to creatively deface fine glass in a new way.

There are two general types of glass engraving. One can be learned in about a day. The other takes four to five years to master. I nearly got the hang of the first technique: tracing a design on a plate with a dentist’s drill.

“Incredible!” spouted Karin, looking over my shoulder. Naturally, my efforts didn’t look like much, but I was really getting into this arts-and-crafts stuff.

Moving on to the second technique, Jan (a master engraver) gave me some valuable pointers. I managed, in just one hour, to engrave a dolphin on a glass vase which, if you dimmed the lights and backed up a bit (to Finland), looked vaguely like a dolphin on a glass vase. If you didn’t take these measures, it looked like Charlie the Tuna on a vase.

“That’s OK,” mustered Jan.

“It’s beautiful,” gushed Karin.

It was time for lunch, or rather, a press conference with food. The chief glass designer, Gunnel Sahlin, was giving a presentation in Swedish for the local press on her recent exhibits in America. In Sweden, some glass designers, including Sahlin, are as well known as TV celebrities. I was introduced to Sahlin, but I didn’t ask any questions because I hadn’t understood most of her hour-long presentation and it didn’t seem appropriate to ask her to repeat it in English.

The next stop, the glass blowing department, looked like Santa’s workshop - if it were moved to a sauna and the elves had taken steroids.

Krister, a master glassblower, tried to show me the ropes. The first step, he said, was to take a long metal blowing rod and get some hot glass on the end of it. I walked over to the large pizza oven and dipped the tip of the rod in the pot of glowing white liquid glass. Unfortunately, I didn’t do it quickly enough. At six feet away, the hair on my arms singed from the extreme heat.

I pulled out what looked like a glowing (2,000-degree), giant wad of chewing gum. Then Krister asked me to practice blowing a bubble with it. While spinning the rod quickly to keep the gooey glass from dripping onto the floor, I began to slowly inflate it. With minimal effort, I was able to make a bubble nearly the size of a chair. Before it burst, Krister took the blowing rod and attached bubble over to a cool water trough and let it break safely underwater.

“Now,” he said, “you will make a bowl.”

Actually, I made several bowls. But if you saw any of them, I doubt you would say, “Oh, is that a bowl?” More likely you’d say, “Oh, is that an ashtray?” or, “Oh, is that a wad of melted glass?” or just “Oh.”

Karin loved them all.

When we went up to the PR offices to say good-bye, Karin insisted I show everyone my dolphin vase.

“Look, isn’t it beautiful!?” she exclaimed. They all agreed it was. The head PR person even took a photo of it. My plates and glasses were also passed around to squeals of “Beautiful!” “Wonderful!” “Incredible!” Once all my handicraft was spread out, I could see I’d ruined an impressive amount of glass.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: KNOW BEFORE YOU GO Kosta Boda offers complete tours of their glass factory every day but will probably not let you make and design glass yourself unless you have a somewhat realistic-looking press ID card. Kosta Boda is located in the town of Kosta. Orrefors is located in the town of Orrefors. Kosta Boda on the web at: http://www.kostaboda.se Orrefors/Kosta Boda glass can also be found in a few U.S. galleries: 140 Bradford Dr., West Berlin, N.J. 08091 Phone: 609-768-5400 South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bear St., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626 Phone: 714-549-1959 58 East 57th St., New York, N.Y. 10022 Phone: 212-753-3442