Motto:
.. in lovely delicate shape
made of color, briiiiance and dream crystals ..
(Fritz Lampl)
THE GLASSES OF BIMINI
The Prince sought the fountain of eternal youth in Heinrich Heine’s poem about “Bi-
mini,” the island of Indian legend:
On the island of Bimini / Issues the most delightful spring; / From the dear magic fount
/ Flows the water of rejuvination . . . Lethe, the water is called! / Drink of it and you will
forget / All your sorrows - yes, forget / Everything you have suffered - / Good water!
Good place! / Whoever comes here, leaves it / Never again - for this place / Is the true
Bimini.
(Translation after Hermann R. Leber, Heinrich Heine Werke, Vienna, n. d., p. 473)
Fascinated by the “lamp-blown” work he saw in Berlin, Fritz Lampl in 1923 founded his
Studio in Vienna to which he gave the name “Bimini.” He was not the first to succumb
to the magic of this name and the fairytale character that lay within it. Richard Teschner
also called one of his Zellon figures “Bimini.”
Together with the brothers, Artur and Josef Berger, Fritz Lampl was able to bring his
“Bimini Workshop” up to the highest artistic Standards and on to international acclaim
within a very short time: in 1924, presented for the first time at the Vienna Trade Fair; in
1925, awarded a number of prizes in Paris. Bimini glasses gained entry to the interiors
of Contemporary architects (Hugo Gorge, Vienna; Fritz Gross, Vienna; Willi Foltin,
Vienna; Paul Griesser, Bielefeld; Josef and Martin Ziegler, Vienna) and were pictured in
Contemporary publications.
Bimini’s successor Company, founded after the emigration to London, was also named
for an island: for “Orplid” which we know from the famous poem by Eduard Mörike and
its brilliant musical setting by Hugo Wolf.
Fabulous creatures of distant worlds fill Fritz Lampl’s “Bimini” with magical life: “.. . in
lovely delicate shapes / made of color, briiiiance and dream crystals . . .”
The poet created enchanting works which unite the poetry of thought with that of
glass. Airy glass miniatures resulted, with the weightlessness of a down feather, ex
treme delicacy captured in graceful motion, released from all earthly ties.
Josef Berger’s credo for modern interior design sprang from the same basic mood:
“Its essence is anti-pathetic: light, cheerful, manifold.” Grace and cheerfulness, charm
and humor are characteristics of many Bimini glasses, which, it appears, could be
created in Vienna - and only in Vienna.
The most extensive “Bimini” collection is to be found in private ownership in Vienna.
Museum collections (Austrian Museum for Applied Arts, Vienna, and the Technical Mu
seum, Vienna) are notable for the certainty of their provenience. In isolated cases,
glasses can be seen outside Austria and in other museums (Kunstmuseum Düssel
dorf).
MARKING
Both the blown, thin-walled “Bimini” glasses and the figures made fromjdrawn out rods
had little labels glued to them as the only possibility for marking. These round or
square labels bearing the trade mark, model number, place of origin or price, have
rarely survived.
The “Bimini” trade mark - a round paper label with a flowerpot and the term, BIMINI,
was registered under the number 93372 on November 10, 1923, in Austria (renewed on
November 3, 1933, until November 10, 1943; changed on November 3, 1933, to “Bimini”
Workshops - Society for Applied Arts in Vienna).
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