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Blue art-glass bud vase, swung/stretched form
Object/Artifact
A tall, slender decorative vase of translucent blue glass. The body swells to a rounded, teardrop/bulbous base and tapers upward through a long narrow neck that flares at the top into an irregular, undulating multi-lobed rim — the characteristic "swung glass" form, in which a gather of hot glass is spun/swung while molten so the rim opens into wavy points. The surface has soft vertical ribbing/optic swirl that twists up the body, catching light. The glass is a clear cornflower/periwinkle blue, of even color, with some internal bubbles/seeds and minor surface specks visible. No pontil detail or maker's mark is described from this single view. The piece is intact and in good condition.
2025.1.135
As decoration in the Arús Caraballo household.
The Cabrera Arús family collection
2025.1
Combinado del Vidrio
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
No visible maker's mark in this view. The swung form and optic-ribbed colored glass are typical of mid-century decorative glassware produced by many factories. Date undetermined.
Glass
Mold-blown and "swung" glass: a blown, optic-ribbed gather elongated by swinging while molten, producing the stretched neck and irregular flared rim.
Good
Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez
owner
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
use
After the 1959 Revolution and the nationalization of industry, Cuban glassmaking — like other sectors — was reorganized under centralized state enterprises; the Combinado del Vidrio brought glass production under state management to supply both utilitarian glassware (bottles, containers, tableware) and decorative wares for the domestic market. The swung form — a blown, optic-ribbed gather elongated by swinging while molten so the rim opens into irregular wavy lobes — was an internationally common mid-century decorative-glass technique, here executed in a Cuban state factory, making the vase evidence of how international design idioms were taken up within Cuba's state-run industry.