GLASS  CHRISTMAS  TREE  ORNAMENTS  IN  THE
CATALOGUE  OF  THE  VIKTORIN  A  SPOL.  COMPANY
HRADEC  KRÄLOVE  -  KÖNIGGRÄTZ
It  has  been  almost  two  years  now  since  I  acquired  one  of  the
rare  Company  catalogues  that  rank  among  the  priceless  documents
  of  the  glass  craft.  The  jacket  (ill.  163,  p.  47)  pictures  a
little  girl  holding  a  glass  bell  in  her  hand  and  sitting  next  to  an
open  box  of  Christmas  tree  Ornaments.  The  large  Company
emblem  can  be  seen  in  the  background.  This  emblem  with  a
Christmas  tree  and  a  Christmas  star  is  repeated  on  the  following
  fourteen  plates  (it  was  cut  away  from  the  last  plate).
The  text  in  several  languages  (English,  French  and  German)
points  to  the  international  nature  of  the  target  market,  while  the
Company  name  and  the  place-name  are  in  Czech.  The  indication
  of  origin,  MADE  IN  CZECHOSLOVAKIA,  Stands  at  the  left
edge.  The  title  page  (ill.  164,  p.  48)  cites  the  award  of  the
Grand  Prix  at  the  Brussels  Exhibition  of  1935,  which  gives  us  a
clue  to  the  date  of  the  catalogue.  The  back  cover  page  (ill.  165,
p.  48)  mentions  the  photographers  of  the  pictures  (K.  Sterba  -
O.  Vokräl  in  Hradec  Krälove)  and  the  printer  J.  Dolezal  (Cerveny
  Kostelec).
On  fourteen  (unpaginated)  horizontal  plates  hundreds  of  motifs
  are  offered  to  interested  buyers  (they  are  either  printed  in
color  or  in  shades  of  blue).  A  sheet  of  transparent  paper  with
the  corresponding  numbers  of  the  collection  lies  on  top  of
every  plate.  They  can  most  likely  be  regarded  as  a  help  in  placing
  Orders  since  in  addition  to  the  numbers  of  the  individual
items,  the  numbers  for  the  contents  of  entire  boxes  (so-called
“assembled  designs”)  are  also  listed.  For  the  sake  of  simplicity,
I  have  subsequently  given  the  fourteen  plates  consecutive
numbers:  pl.  1a,  b  up  to  14  a,  b  (a  =  transparent  paper  with
numbers,  b  =  plate  with  motifs).  With  few  exceptions,  the
Christmas  tree  Ornaments  are  grouped  according  to  subject.
(pine  cones,  Christmas  tree  peaks,  bells  and  Santa  Clauses,
birds,  balls,  reflectors,  other  objects  for  hanging,  and  Christmas ­
  tree  Ornaments  of  various  kinds,  mostly  with  relief  surfaces.
  On  the  first  sheet  we  find  nuts  and  fish,  an  owl  and  a  car,
that  is,  very  different  kinds  of  motifs.
The  Company,  Viktorin  a  spol.  is  listed  in  Contemporary  address ­
  books.  The  fact  that  this  Company  does  not  appear  under
  the  heading  of  “Glass”  but  under  “Chemical  Industry”  is
worth  noting.  Perhaps  the  materials  used  for  painting  were  responsible
  for  this  Classification.  It  can  also  be  assumed  that
the  Company  was  also  active  as  a  product  editor  and/or  exporter
  and  had  the  glass  Christmas  tree  Ornaments  decorated  according ­
  to  specific  patterns  (probably  by  home-workers).
Previously  I  had  to  base  my  comprehension  of  the  company’s
history  entirely  on  entries  in  the  “Industrie-  und  Handelscompass”
  and  related  publications.  According  to  them  the  Company ­
  was  founded  in  1904  (see  ill.  162,  p.  46).  It  was  not  until
1937  that  it  started  listing  Christmas  tree  Ornaments  in  its  program ­
  (interestingly,  only  in  the  German  language,  not  in
Czech).  On  the  map  of  the  “Österreichischer  Zentralkataster”
(Austrian  Central  Land  Registry)  of  1908,  that  is,  only  slightly
later,  Königgrätz  and  its  geographical  environs  are  seen
(ill.  161,  p.  46),  including  Königinhof.  The  map  in  ill.  37  (p.  20)
shows  a  larger  area,  reaching  from  Gablonz  in  the  north  to
Caslau  in  the  south.

The  fact  that  the  production  of  glass  beads  in  the  Königgrätz
district  has  a  long  tradition,  is  proven  in  the  article  by  Karl
Trapp,  “The  Fabrication  of  Glass  Beads  in  Königgrätz  District”
(Die  Glasperlen-Erzeugung  im  Königgrätzer  Bezirke)  in  the
three-volume  work,  “Report  of  the  Imperial  Trades  Inspectors
on  Work  in  Homes  in  Austria”  (Bericht  der  k.k.  Gewerbe-Inspectoren ­
  über  die  Heimarbeit  in  Österreich),  Vienna  1900,
Volume  1,  pp.  19-21  (pp.  43-45).
Work  done  in  homes  definitely  accounted  for  a  large  share  of
the  production  of  the  Christmas  tree  Ornaments  shown  in  the
catalogue  reproduced  here.  The  role  of  the  Company  Viktorin
is  most  likely  that  of  an  editor  which  was  responsible  for  production ­
  and  sales.  Many  questions  remain  unanswered:  concerning
  the  designers  of  the  patterns,  the  glass  suppliers,  retail
  prices.  The  condition  of  the  catalogue  -  damaged  by  water
and  other  substances  -  in  no  way  diminishes  the  enormous
value  of  the  information  contained  in  the  thin  publication.
Unfortunately,  it  did  not  contain  a  price  list.  This  is  especially
regrettable,  not  only  because  of  the  missing  sales  prices,  but
also  because  it  is  often  very  difficult  to  give  the  right  description
  of  an  object:  hollow  bodies  that  end  in  a  point  at  the  top
and  the  bottom  (that  is,  with  a  pointed  oval  cross-section)  are
called  “eggs”  in  German  sources  (Kat.  Karlsruhe  1996,  p.  46),
but  the  same  shape,  albeit  smaller,  appears  on  the  sample
cards  from  Gablonz  as  “olives.”  Both  expressions  are  naturally
only  approximations  of  the  shape.
The  reproduction  of  the  catalogues  follows  in  a  somewhat  reduced
  size;  enlarged  details  can  be  found  in  connection  with
the  motifs  (pp.  63-240),  which  are  usually  accompanied  by  details ­
  with  numbers.

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