Bohemia, the unbearable lightness of glass

" We'd like to be the Jacquemus or Balenciaga of glassware," says young Lukáš Klimčák, the 2019 founder of the Klimchi brand, which has established itself on the table and even in the Barbie movie in no time at all. How did his Bohemian crystal glasses and decanter get in front of the cameras? A mystery of chance - or not. Lukáš Klimčák knows how to illuminate: he was born into a family that has been producing crystal lighting fixtures for generations. In 2010, they bought the century-old Jilek factory in Kamenický Šenov, Czech Republic. " The workshop is located in the Crystal Valley in North Bohemia, surrounded by forest. "Wood, water and sand are essential to the production of the famous crystal. " Nature, which is not very conducive to agriculture, decided what the villagers would do. In the past, every family worked in the glassworks, and the tradition has endured. Such a concentration of know-how is very rare in a single place, with the exception of Murano. "In this miraculous valley, the first chandelier factory opened in 1724. Its lights flooded the courts of Europe and the Ottoman Empire. In 1856, a school was set up in Kamenický Šenov, one of the first in Europe to train students in engraving and glass painting. Still in operation today, some former students work in the Jilek workshop.

Under the immense metal and glass structure - built, it is said, by the Eiffel workshop in 1905 - the atmosphere is warm - no pun intended. The furnaces can approach 1,300°C. Craftsmen perform a choreography of fire, breath and water in a dizzying din. It's a spectacle that evokes life and death. magic too. Incandescent living matter rapidly solidifies. On the central platform, close to the flames, the glassmakers share a few square meters, their awareness of space firmly anchored in their bodies. Not one of them makes a false move. From the furnaces to the various molds, everyone has his or her role. Sweat drips from foreheads, cigarettes are smoked between sips of (low-alcohol) beer and laughter erupts, generous and fat. This organized chaos unfolds before the impassive eyes of celebrities from a country that no longer exists, Czechoslovakia. No one has thought of removing their portraits from the walls. By the fire, time likes to be counted in centuries. The technique of glassblowing appeared in the Syrian-Palestinian area shortly before the birth of Christ. By blowing, it transforms a molten mass of glass into a bubble that can be shaped in molds. Lukáš Klimčák and his artistic director, glass artist František Jungvirt, have brought this ancestral know-how into the 21st century. together, they are less than 60 years old and are brilliantly dusting off the Bohemian crystal that once filled our grandmothers' sideboards and only came out on rare occasions. Klimchi's collections, full of vitamins and pep, distill their good humor through some thirty colors. " I want to impose our collections on people's everyday lives and bring them a little joy. Our creations are lead-free," adds Lukáš Klimčák.

Like all crystal, Bohemian crystal must contain a percentage of lead oxide (at least 24%) to ensure its clarity and brilliance. "Most Czech manufacturers follow European regulations or those of countries such as Canada and the United States. They no longer use lead for tableware. "Moser did not wait for these directives. This glassworks, founded in 1857 and a member of the Comité Colbert, has been producing lead-free glass since 1893. Its workshop and small museum can be visited in Karlovy Karlovary Vary (formerly Carlsbad), as can its main store, housed in a former Prague apartment. Moser has weathered the storms of time, the most recent of which - Covid excluded - was the 2008 crisis. Many glassworks went out of business. A year earlier, Lasvit had begun to shake up the world of crystal glassmaking, breathing new life into Bohemian tableware and chandeliers, which have become lighting fixtures and contemporary installations radiating around the globe. Its headquarters in Nový Bor, in the Crystal Valley, is an architectural success. Since 2019, its Glass House has been clad in 1,500 sheets of glass, adjacent to restored 18th-century buildings. The tour (Fridays) ends in his brand-new café.

" Our pieces go beyond the utilitarian; they create an atmosphere. We can, for example, bring Spanish sunshine into Norwegian homes," explains Anna Minaříková, communications manager at Lasvit. Leon Jakimič, the founder, likes to say that handmade objects carry an energy that can be felt even when the lights are off. "Right from the start, Lasvit has collaborated with big names - architects, designers, artists... Examples include Kengo Kuma, who designed a series of glasses, and Arik Levy, a vase and lighting fixtures. " We want to develop our tableware collection even further, even if it's not an easy market. Drinking water from a basic Ikea glass or from one of our glasses, signed by designer Milena Kling, for example, has nothing in common. With the latter, you feel as if you're touching the water with your hands, until you can actually smell the liquid. That's what today's new luxury is all about. It's no longer the display of a brand logo, but the experience and the way of apprehending objects whose origin we know. "

Adam Havlíček wouldn't disagree. In South Bohemia, near the site of the Battle of Austerlitz, he founded his glass workshop in 2023 and launched his Izaak Reich brand this year. It certainly took a grain of sand to jump, without knowing anything, into the unknown world of transparency. " I called Rony Plesl, a teacher, sculptor and glass designer, who came all the way here to advise me to abandon my project," confides this former lawyer, who succeeded, over a wine tasting, in convincing him to become artistic director. " Beyond a collection of wine glasses, my ambition is to collaborate directly with winegrowers from great estates. "In short, to marry content and container as closely as possible. " A glass made with the best of machines will never provide the same sensations as one blown by hand. Its properties are different. A good 10- or 15-year-old Pinot does not need to be decanted into a carafe with one of our models. "Light (140 grams), the Linden n°1 glass is so remarkably fine as to be sensual. Adam Havlíček is already in discussion with leading Bordeaux houses, after those in the Czech Republic. " Southern Moravia is a bit like Alsace. Our vineyards are also witnesses to history. Many were in Jewish hands before the Second World War. They were abandoned during the Communist era, as wine and asparagus were considered too "bourgeois". Mass production of beer replaced the small vineyards. "Fortunately, they have now begun to revive.

The sun goes down and the swallows flap their wings to their nest under the roofs of the hotel opposite the workshop, one of the most modern in the country. Adam Havlíček heats it with the heat from the kilns. Elsewhere, in Nižbor, an hour from Prague, a stork greets visitors. The feathered logo is the symbol of Rückl, a company founded in 1846. It is now owned by businessman Martin Wichterle, who also owns Bomma, which specializes in glass lighting fixtures. The workshop has retained its poetic, nostalgic atmosphere of yesteryear. But it's in Prague that we find its artistic director, Kateřina Handlová. In 2022, at the age of 34, she succeeds Rony Plesl, who was her teacher. "He gave the brand a new aesthetic. I'd like to give mine. For me, glassmaking is above all about the sense of touch. "She has dedicated her first collection, " Hero.ine ", to women. " For me, the vase is another hero; it's an object that can change a table and a space. "Kateřina Handlová fell into glass as a child with two glass artist parents. " They were students of Stanislav Libenský (1921-2002), a great name in the world of glass. It's hard to say anything good about the Communist era, but the regime supported artistic glass production. It used it as a showcase for Czechoslovakia abroad. Artists could explore different modes of expression and techniques, unlike painters or sculptors, who were subject to stricter rules. "

Today's designers and glass artists (including Jan Plecháč, Lukáš Novák and Lukáš Houdek) are heirs to this tradition. Like 28-year-old Elis Monsport, who works by appointment in her studio above a police station in Prague. She engraves mirrors and glass panels, often on a large scale, in collaboration with interior designers. But she also likes to invest in tableware. " My glasses, inspired by trees, are not round. They require you to think about where to put your lips. I like this idea. Accessible, they can be a first step before buying one of my larger pieces. "She produces in the Novotný Glass Studio in Nový Bor. Its founder, Petr Novotný (who died this year), left his son, Ondrej, a glass artist, the keys to the premises, with the restaurant opening directly onto the studio. His small private museum gives an overview of Czech production, but the Glass Museum, a few minutes away, is adorable and more complete. Along the way, you'll spot a glass tree by the late Bořek Šípek. This is the material that brings the town to life. In 2023, Unesco listed the glassmaking skills of six countries - including the Czech Republic - as part of humanity's intangible heritage. You don't have to read a crystal ball to see the future of Czech glass.