1930s "Ode to Music" Moderne Vase, Kåge

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Stunning and elegant, this unique 1938 vase by Wilhelm Kåge for Gustavsberg demonstrates the clean, unfussy lines that Scandinavian Art … Read more Stunning and elegant, this unique 1938 vase by Wilhelm Kåge for Gustavsberg demonstrates the clean, unfussy lines that Scandinavian Art Deco is known for, yet tells a complex, fascinating story about friendship, music and design. The vase was given to Juan Morales (1888-1971) who was a businessman, patron of the arts and an amateur musician, playing in the Grünewald quartet for years. The vase was commissioned by several friends, some of whom may have been his colleagues in the quartet. The vase portrays a dedicatory line at the rim, and a bar of music which circles the vase, stepping down as it makes the circle, all in a gorgeous gold glaze over a cream ground. The vase is also marked with a series of flames, with faint impressions of human figures in each, perhaps again referring to his friends or the quartet. The designer, Wilhelm Kåge, is best known for his enormously successful series of Argenta pieces for Gustavsberg, which feature mermaids and other aquatic creatures in applied silver over a green-turquoise ground. The bottom is very well marked. See less