Follow the Steps of Czech Glass to Chřibská Glassworks

In the 1950s, when the glass industry was being dominated by consumer products, artist Josef Hospodka presented groundbreaking designs for vases. It was in Chřibská where he started modeling new, modern, and untraditional glass.

“When we first entered the square in Nový Bor, the surrounding hills still rang with the sound of shooting. Our hands were empty, but we had our heads full of mystery and confusion. We were armed with only our resolution to work with glass – we were destined to work with that material…” said Hospodka for the Sklář a Keramik magazine.

The first prototypes were blown on Saturdays. Hospodka was able to motivate his glassblowers to such a degree that they worked on his designs in their free time and often without requiring payment. The glassblowers and artists in Chřibská worked together to reveal the beauty of glass piece by piece.