Boda Nude Child with Bow, Arrow, and Umbrella, Vintage Swedish Crystal Vase, 1950s, Hand-Cut Facets

The vase is a perfect size for displaying on a shelf or table where it can catch the sunlight. It is about 4 inches tall and it weighs a pound. The design was made by pressing the glass against a copper wheel, spinning like a fixed Dremel tool. A slurry of oil and grit would coat the wheel, cutting into the glass. Different sizes of wheels made different kinds of cuts.

This sweet little vase is about 75 years old, and it is very sparkly! It was made by the Swedish glass company, Boda, long before they merged with that other Swedish glass company, Kosta. I love the fact that this vase has four hand-cut facets, but they do not touch. From an optics perspective, it means that when you look into a flat side, you see some of the curved surface opposite it, not another flat side. This enhances the play of light in the crystal - clever and beautiful!

Boda glassworks was built in 1864 at Förlångskvarn, on the border between Madesjö and Algutsboda parishes, at the site that later became the town of Boda. It was founded by glassblowing masters Reinhold Viktor Scheutz and E. Vidlund from Kosta. The community of Boda Glassworks grew up around the mill.