Strömbergshyttan 5" Blue Glass Vase or Pen Holder, Pair of 2 Birds Shiny Wings, Made in Sweden 1960's

This charming Swedish vase depicts a pair of songbirds with wings that sparkle in the sunshine. The vase is a perfect size for display on a bright windowsill or shelf; it's 2.25" by 5" wide and 4.75" high. It's also quite heavy, weighing almost 3 pounds, a consequence of the uniform, thick glass. It is in excellent condition, clear and sparkling. This piece is engraved using a hand-held engraving tool, sort of like a dental drill. The shiny spots, like the wings, were chipped away with a small chisel or screwdriver. I am connected through Facebook to a gentleman who used to do this work, and he would go home with tiny nicks on his forearms from flying glass bits. It looks really cool, but that's a pretty high price to pay!

The story of Strömbergshyttan begins in 1876, when a glassworks called Lindfors ("winding falls") opened about 50 km west of Orrefors. In 1933, Edward Strömberg, who was a former head at Orrefors, and his wife Gerda, who was a designer at Eda, leased the company and changed the name to Strömbergshyttan ("Strömberg's hut"). Edward and his son Eric devised a way to produce a glass that had a bluish-silver hue, which became characteristic for Strömbergshyttan. Eric Strömberg and his wife, Asta, bought the company in 1945, and they invested heavily to modernize it. The Strömberg family further upgraded the mill in 1960. For most of the 40+ years that the family controlled the glass mill, Gerda and Asta Strömberg designed the glass. A fire in 1973 left the glassworks in financial difficulties, and it was sold to Orrefors in 1976. Orrefors closed the Strömbergshyttan glassworks just three years later. (Adapted from Nils Bergqvist)