The Czech Heritage Museum’s new boudoir glass exhibit opens on Valentine’s Day
Event: Open House with free admission
Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday, February 14
Location: 119 W. French Ave., Temple, Texas
The Czech Heritage Museum & Genealogy Center will host an open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, February 14. The event celebrates a new exhibit sponsored by the Antique Glass Club of Temple, featuring early 20th century Czech boudoir glass from the collection of Rosie and Danforthe Bodien. Admission will be free during the event.
The new exhibit will be displayed in two new cases donated to the museum by the Antique Glass Club and Carolyn Coufal.
Boudoir glass refers generally to items found on a woman’s dressing table. This collection includes perfume bottles, cologne atomizers, dresser boxes, ring trays, hat pins and figurines, all made in Czechoslovakia.
Several of the new exhibit pieces were made at the Curt Schlevogt glassworks owned by Curt Schlevogt and his son, Henry. Henry innovated a new glass technique with the appearance of marble, malachite and lapiz lazuli. Then he hired leading artists and sculptors to design his new pieces. At the 1937 Paris World’s Fair, Schlevogt’s marble-like glass was featured in ornamental sculptures by Ena Rottenberg and Josef Bernhard, winning, in part, the Grand Prize for the Czechoslovaks.
Both art nouveau and art deco styles are represented in this collection, including the popular, “Ingrid” art deco line. Henry Schlevogt married Charlotte Hoffman, the daughter of another glass producer, Henry Hoffman. Charlotte died while giving birth to their child, Ingrid, for whom the line is named.
At the end of WWII, the Schlevogt glassworks were nationalized and Henry was sentenced to prison in Siberia for four years. After release, he was exiled, but began again, directing a glass factory in France until his death in 1984.
The Antique Glass Club sponsorship includes not only the two new display cases, but also expert advice and research help with the artifacts.
The Antique Glass Club was organized in 1963 by Mrs. Harvey Watkins, and its first president was Mrs. J. E. Johnson. The club, which currently has 24 members, aims to preserve an interest in antique glass and the history and stories it reflects. The club's officers are Carolyn Coufal, president; Gail Wical, first vice president; Beverly Kermode, second vice president; Angela Peik, secretary; and Nancy Smith, treasurer.
