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Not Czech Spatter Vases - They're Welsh! Acme Vacuum Flask Co. Vases

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Michelleb007's items7 of 263Loetz olympia DEK I/345Early Loetz Vase in an Agate-like Decor with Enameling
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    Posted 1 year ago

    Michelleb007
    (263 items)

    For years, I would across some unusual spatter vases that I, and several other collectors and sellers I know, assumed were Art Deco era, and Czechoslovakian in origin. However, I have finally found out the answer to who actually made these vases, and it was very different from what I had assumed!
    I saw a pair of these vases a few months ago, listed for sale on Etsy by a British seller as being made by the Acme Vacuum Flask Co. I contacted her to ask about them, and she was very helpful, and told me about how she found out who made them by visiting an exhibition on the Acme Vacuum Flask Co Ltd of Bridgend, Glamorgan, Wales that was on show at St. John's House, a historic 16th century home open to the public in Bridgend. (The images of the exhibition are from an older facebook post by St. John's about their exhibition.) They factory shut down in 1959, so I am assuming these were made post-WWII, during the late 1940's and into the 1950's, but they could have been made even a bit earlier, in the 1930's.
    I just wanted to set the record straight on the origin and maker of these vases for other glass collectors - one glass mystery solved!

    More history added in 2026:
    "The company was originally a London-based firm (Stepney) owned by Alfred Boesen. Following World War II, they relocated to the Bridgend Trading Estate in South Wales (taking over a former munitions factory). While their core business was vacuum flasks, they utilized their glass-blowing facilities to branch out into decorative items to maximize production. These vases and drinking sets were often retailed through F.W. Woolworth stores, making them "everyday luxury" items for post-war British homes."

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    Comments

    1. inky inky, 1 year ago
      Great sleuthing, Michelle..thank you for sharing..
    2. Michelleb007 Michelleb007, 1 year ago
      Thanks so much inky! :)
    3. vetraio50 vetraio50, 1 year ago
      Thanks Michelle. I come across them every so often here in Oz. I’d thought they might have been Belgian. Great post.
    4. IronLace IronLace, 1 year ago
      Thanks so much Michelle, this is great to find out!
      I had one of these vases, same as the green one in the middle of the bottom row in the picture. Did think it was Czech, & they do turn up reasonably often in Australia, makes sense now I guess with the Commonwealth link to the UK...
    5. Michelleb007 Michelleb007, 1 year ago
      Thanks Kevin!
    6. Michelleb007 Michelleb007, 1 year ago
      My pleasure, IronLace! I was really surprised about these. It does make sense that you find some in Australia - I had never considered that! :)
    7. kivatinitz kivatinitz, 11 months ago
      very interesting thanks so much

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