Gallery of Antique Austrian Crystal Perfume Bottles

In this gallery, I present to you your next obsession: antique crystal perfume bottles from Austria. These exquisite pieces were crafted during the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which existed from 1867 to 1918. This vast empire encompassed regions that now lie within the borders of Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine. After 1918 to about 1939 or so, the bottles were still being made, in mass quantities and exported into the United States.

In essence, these craftsmen were continuing a long-standing tradition of creating opulent works of art. I hold a special affinity for these objects, as they hail from a region that reflects a significant part of my ancestry.

Many of these beautiful flacons were sourced from Czechoslovakia—or from Bohemia prior to 1918—and later fitted with gilded bronze mountings in Austria. These mountings were further adorned with enamel and glass jewels. The luxurious settings often feature bezel-set faux gems, representing stones such as lapis lazuli, malachite, coral, agate, diamond, jade, ruby, sapphire, emerald, topaz, opal, and pearl. The glass, produced by large manufactories, was sometimes sent to secondary workshops for additional refinement, such as cutting, polishing, painting, gilding, or silvering, before being fitted with the bronze mountings—either by the same workshop or a different one.

Several notable Czechoslovakian firms, including Johann Umann, FJ Vater & Co, Josef Leder, Oswald Elstner, and Grossmann & Distelbarth, were involved in the production and sale of these bottles. They often sourced glass blanks from Carl Riedel’s factory in Josefstal, Czechoslovakia. Riedel’s factory produced molds that were exclusive to Grossmann & Distelbarth, ensuring a unique product.

These perfume bottles, whether atomizers or dauber types, come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. It’s not uncommon to find the same design in different colors or as part of a set with matching pieces, like powder boxes or other flacons. The crystal is typically found in transparent shades such as amethyst, cobalt blue, canary yellow (Annagelb), emerald green, ruby red, garnet red, cranberry, pink, amber, aqua blue, uranium glass (Annagrun, Eleonorengrun), black, and clear. The glass is often cased, where a darker outer layer is cut to reveal a clear base, though opaque glass in solid colors like black, coral, or malachite is also used.

These bottles were imported into the USA by companies such as W.H. Schmidt, located at 200 Fifth Avenue, New York, and J.W. Levy Corporation at 892 Broadway, New York.

Perfumery and Essential Oil Record - Volume 16, Archibald C. Merrin, 1925:

"The standard of perfection in glass is that it should be as clear as crystal, the finest specimens with nicety of construction and perfect harmony in stoppering are only to be obtained in good Bohemian glass, cut bottles. They give to the finished perfume just the appearance that charms the most discriminating buyer, and the progressive perfumer appeals through the medium of the container for public patronage. Perfect beauty in cut glass has been attained and the principal modifications have been in the direction of improving the quality of the glass and increasing the polish. There has been much rich gilt and silver embellishments to neck and stopper, and deep cut floral engraving and enamelling which seem to be greatly in favour. It is true that the older complex patterns, as the square cut all over, and hobnail cut, are now in less favor than quieter designs with deep cutting, but it cannot be said that one has entirely displaced the other. The square cut mushroom remains the most widely used, its being the best adaptable to the smaller sizes now so much in demand. The oblong square takes next place, and both are occasionally very nicely engraved, and sometimes fitted with gold and silver stopper coverings and necks. On the other hand, certain styles of cut decoration and shapes have quite gone out of fashion, owing to the numerous imitations that have been brought in pressed glass. There has been much applied to the older patterns to vary their shape, and engraving is being very cleverly executed speciality firms."

Trade Agreement Between the United States and the Czechoslovak Republic,- United States Tariff Commission, 1938:

"Most perfume bottles imported from France are used for packaging and selling perfume. French bottles are made from high-quality crystal, with stoppers, and come in unique shapes and designs that aren't typically made in the U.S.

On the other hand, many of the perfume bottles from Czechoslovakia and Japan are mostly decorative, not necessarily meant for holding or transporting perfume. In 1936-37, only a few bottles from Czechoslovakia were used to package perfume. Most Czechoslovakian bottles are made of colored glass, mainly blue, amethyst, and amber, with detailed cut designs and stoppers that include applicators. They are priced between 40 cents and $15, with about three-quarters of them selling for $1 to $2 each.

Perfume and cosmetic bottles are made in several countries, including France, Czechoslovakia, Germany, England, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Spain, Japan, and others. France is the top producer of high-quality perfume bottles, while Czechoslovakia is known for making decorative ones.

Perfume makers often choose distinctive bottles that make their products stand out in the public's mind. Imported perfume bottles are mostly handmade, with smaller demand, while bottles made in the U.S. are produced in larger quantities for mass production.

Decorative bottles, which are usually hand-blown, are mostly imported from Czechoslovakia and Japan and sold in chain and department stores. The U.S. makes fewer decorative bottles, and they are generally more expensive than imported ones. However, U.S.-made decorative bottles are not as elaborately designed as those from Czechoslovakia. The main competition for Czechoslovakian bottles in the U.S. comes from Japanese-made bottles."

In a 1937 court case, UNITED STATES v HW ROBINSON & Co. (No 4116) explained how some of the atomizers were assembled.

The case was about glass perfume bottles and atomizers (devices for spraying perfume) that were assembled from separate parts. The glass bottles and metal parts were bought separately, then put together and imported as complete items. The court ruled that these completed items should be taxed based on their export value.

c. There was strong evidence that the glass parts of these bottles and atomizers were openly sold to anyone in large quantities in the main market of Czechoslovakia. The same applied to the metal mountings that were attached to the bottles—they were sold in large quantities, with the cost of attaching the metal parts included in the price.

d. The court also found that buying these parts and assembling them this way was a common business practice in Czechoslovakia. There was no evidence that this type of merchandise was bought or exported to the U.S. in any other way.

The products in question were imported by De Boer & Livingston Inc., a company based in New York City that dealt in perfume bottles and dresser sets. (They were still in business in 1957.)

One Mortimer P. Livingston, president of the importing corporation, De Boer & Livingston, Inc. With respect to the merchandise here involved, he testified that he bought it personally in Gablonz, Czechoslovakia, during one of his periodical visits to that country. With respect to his method of purchasing the mounted bottles and atomizers he testified in the instant case as follows: 

Q. Now Mr Livingston will you please tell us how you buy the merchandise of the kind under consideration, namely, mounted bottles and atomizers, when you go to Europe with the object of buying, and how you did buy the merchandise covered by the individual reappraisements now before the court:

A. The representative of W Klaar our commissionaire takes me around to the various manufacturers of perfume bottles I make a selection of these bottles.

Q. From samples submitted to you?

A. From samples which I see in the various factories. After we have selected a great many of these bottles the representative of Klaar then takes me to a jewelry mounter of these metal goods. We select from an assortment which he also has there we select our styles we are interested in and Klaar then has these bottles shipped to the metal mounter who in turn puts the trimmings on the bottles 

Q. Being the bottles that you selected with Klaar's representative and the mountings which you selected with Klaar's representative is that right?

 A. That is correct. Then the bottle is finished by the jewelry mounter and is returned to Klaar complete. 

Q. Then what? 

A. Then I purchase the complete bottle from Klaar. I have repeatedly supplied bottles, jars, and atomizers decorated in a similar manner with metal and stones. 

It appears from the testimony that there were several other importers in the United States who purchased in Gablonz through a commissionaire, metal mounted perfume bottles and metal mounted glass atomizers in the same manner. The parties interviewed claimed that they were free to sell any of the articles shipped to the United States by them to any customer in countries other than the United States, but that besides the atomizers, nobody would buy metal mounted glassware except a few pieces for the tourist trade that being an article appealing only to American customers. At that time, there was no market in Czechoslovakia for this or similar merchandise. Practically all purchasers in the United States transacted their business in the same manner. The witness named several firms in the United States who purchase competitive and similar merchandise.

In order to purchase a complete perfume atomizer from Klaar, Livingston would purchase an atomizer base, then place an order with Klaar who would then purchase the atomizer mounting, and assembled the atomizer by putting the top part on the glass base. Hans Klaar, co owner of the firm of W. Klaar, Gablonz, declared that all the atomizer mountings supplied by him 1933 to the firm of De Boer & Livingston Inc., New York, were manufactured by Bruder Rachmann Metallwerke, Haida. 

The stopper alone was supplied by Franz Stefezius, Josefsthal.

Livingston said, "The representative of W Klaar, our commissionaire, takes me around to the various manufacturers of perfume bottles. I make a selection of these bottles. From samples which I see in the various factories. After we have selected a great many of these bottles, the representative of Klaar then takes me to a jewelry mounter of these metal goods. We select from an assortment which he also has there, we select our styles we are interested in and Klaar then has these bottles shipped to the metal mounter who in turn puts the trimmings on the bottles. Then the bottle is finished by the jewelry mounter and is returned to Klaar complete. Then I purchase the complete bottle from Klaar." 

He said that when he purchases a perfume atomizer, he purchases also the atomizer base through the representative of Klaar, then Klaar then purchases the atomizer mounting and assembles the atomizer by putting the top part on the glass base. The witness named several firms in the United States who purchase competitive and similar merchandise to that at bar and was emphatic that Klaar is not a manufacturer but a commissionaire and exporter.

Defendant's witness Harry Marks testified he is connected with Marks & Rosenfeld, importers of "china glass and imported merchandise" from Czechoslovakia; and that he visits Czechoslovakia to purchase for his firm and was there during April October and November 1933 buying through an agent in Gablonz; that he collected his bottles first, then saw a mounter and obtained his price on the mounting and after selecting the mounting; directed his agent to deliver the bottles to the mounter. so that the mounting could be placed thereon; that when the bottles were finished they were sent back to the agent for packing and shipping to his firm in the United States; that he also bought "quite a quantity of a completed bottle" that the price was cheaper "where we bought the bottle separately and where we bought the mounting separately" than it would be to buy the complete bottle; that his agent is remunerated by commission; that the bottles he buys are offered in the domestic market both mounted and unmounted. 

Defendant's witness Rice testified he is connected with Irving W Rice & Co importers of toilet bottles and atomizers from Czechoslovakia; that he was buying there in May and June 1933; that the merchandise in question was of the same general character as that he imported. He then described his method of purchase as follows:

"We have a commissionaire located in Gablonz with whom we visit the various manufacturers making bottles and we make our selections of bottles and then we visit the maker of the mountings and we make our selections and the two are combined. The two are attached and returned to the commissionaire and forwarded to us."

He then pays his commissionaire and pays his agent the price the agent pays the manufacturer with the mountings attached, plus the carton, etc. 

Defendant's witness Lou D. Bloom testified he is also with Irving W Rice & Co; that he handles merchandise similar to that now before the court, and does some of the buying in Czechoslovakia; that he was there in May and June and November and December 1933; that his procedure in purchasing was through an agent, and was the same as that described by the previous witness, with a commission to the agent of 10 per centum; that there are other buyers competing with his firm "buying for export to America" merchandise "that may vary in detail but come within similar price ranges." His testimony as to his method of doing business was similar to that of other witnesses purchasing this character of merchandise in Czechoslovakia.

In the affidavit of Rudolf Pohl, he stated he supplied bottle mountings between May and December 1933 to W Klaar Gablonz for the plaintiffs De Boer & Livingston.  "I herewith declare that all these mountings were contained at the time in my sample collection and that these and similar designs in similar price ranges could also be ordered from me and actually were ordered from me by other customers." 

He gives the names of three firms in the United States for whom he has "executed similar bottle mountings" in addition to De Boer & Livingston.

The affidavit of Mr Josef Schmidt, a manufacturer of bottles, gives the prices of bottles supplied to Klaar from to December 1933 for De Boer & Livingston, and states that bottles were always exhibited in his sample room and could bought from him at similar price ranges by any customer the same period.

In the affidavit of Robert Seibt, manufacturer of perfume bottles, testifies that is to the same effect as to bottles supplied by him to Klaar for De Boer & Livingston during April to December 1933. He also states he has sold similar goods during this period to other customers for export at the same price .

The affidavit of Alfred Schoeler is to the same effect as the foregoing as to bottles supplied to Klaar for De Boer & Livingston and the sale of similar articles for export to the United States.

The same is true of the affidavit of Wilhelm Rachmann as to atomizer mountings manufactured by him for Klaar for De Boer & Livingston during May to December 1933 and the sale of similar mountings to others for export to the United States.

The affidavit of Hans Klaar of the firm of W Klaar, Gablonz, is to the effect that all atomizer mountings supplied by him between May and December 1933 to De Boer & Livingston were manufactured by Rachmann Metallwerke, Haida, and that the prices of the atomizers on all his invoices to De Boer & Livingston are in no case lower than the costs of the bottles plus costs for attaching the mounting and that the prices for decorated perfume bottles on all his invoices to said firm are in no case lower than the costs of the bottles plus costs of the metal ornament including the costs for attaching the mounting.

W. Klaar acts as the United States importers buying commissionaire for the Gablonz district and charges a 10 commission for his services which consist of placing orders with the different makers located in and around Gablonz inspecting and packing the goods when delivered to his premises, paying the different makers of the goods and shipping the merchandise. W Klaar shipped to the United States, the separate parts purchased by W Klaar from the manufacturers and combined into the finished articles on the premises of W Klaar or by the home workers under W Klaar's orders and directions. 

The of the plaintiffs being a member of the plaintiff firm purchases through Mr Klaar perfume bottles of the character and design he desires selecting such from an examination of various samples produced by different manufacturers of such bottles He then is taken by Klaar to a jewelry mounter having metal parts for the bottles The styles desired are selected from the assortment of the jewelry mounter who usually places the metal mountings on the bottles finishes the article and returns it to Klaar complete that in some cases Klaar himself assembles the two parts of the atomizer viz the bottle and the metal mountings by putting the top part on the glass base. The completed articles are then shipped by Klaar to the importers in the United States. The occasional assembly of the two parts by Klaar does not render him the manufacturer of this merchandise. 

He merely introduced the importers to the manufacturers, received the merchandise, packed it and shipped it to the United States. Occasionally, he assembled some bottles and mountings received by him from the manufacturers and made a charge for doing so.