Welcome to Frogabilia!
We are a Greek/English family-run business established in the UK in 2011. Since then we have built up a large collection of unique items, hand-picked from private collectors sales.
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This Listing is for:
Christmas Ornament Kugel Antique Cobalt Blue Mercury Glass Rare Berry Shape
An Antique Original
The German Kugel: A Christmas Tradition
The kugel is the earliest form of German glass Christmas decoration, its predecessor being the “witch ball”, an unsilvered glass sphere hung from windows to ward off evil spirits (supposedly repulsed by round shapes). In the 1850’s, when a glass silvering formula was developed by Laushan glass blower, Louis Greiner-Schlotfeder, these witch balls found new purpose as reflective Christmas ornaments. Capped in brass to keep the silver interiors from oxidizing and to provide an attractive hanging apparatus, the Kugel was born. Soon after, this same glass blower was credited with making the first molded glass ornament-- creating a pine cone shaped kugel by blowing a thin glass bubble into a cookie mold.
Thus, the German town of Lauscha, nestled deep in the Thuringian forest, became the center of the blown-glass ornament trade in Germany. Ornament making began as a cottage industry there, with whole families involved in production year round. Grandfathers, fathers, and sons blew glass in home-based foundries; while grandmothers, mothers, and daughters focused their efforts on silvering-- perhaps around the same table the family ate their meals. Larger glass-blowing workshops, and eventually dedicated factories, grew out of increasing consumer demand for these festive baubles. New and inventive shapes were created with an expanded colour pallet and improved lustre and technique.
Dimensions:
12.5 cm long, 11 cm in diameter approx.
Condition:
Good antique condition: Mild Wear
Please see all photos
Provenance: From a large private UK collection
More beautiful Antique Kugel Glass Ornaments & Witches Balls available
Please see last photos
***In the summer of 2013 our shop featured in the BBC series Antiques Road Trip; we have also worked with prop-masters and costume designers in the film industry, supplying jewellery and antiques for productions such as Mr Holmes (with Ian Mckellan), Viceroy's House (directed by Gurinder Chadha), the upcoming Disney production Maleficient II, and the TV series Downton Abbey.