Moonprint, Brockwitz

Collectors Facts - Moonprint (aka Globus), Brockwitz, Germany

Glassmaking at Brockwitz c1920s (British Pottery Gazette)

Shapes:

Extremely wide range of shapes

Colours:

Marigold only.

The pattern we know as Moonprint was originally called Globus (meaning "globes") by the maker, Brockwitz. The name Moonprint was actually given by Marion Hartung in her Eighth Book of Carnival Glass in the mid 1960s. The item she showed was a lidded six inch pickle jar (see below), but Mrs. Hartung, being an American researcher, speculated at the time that it was “made for use on some old Soda Fountain, either to hold topping for sundaes or for straws.”

The Moonprint range was introduced by Brockwitz in the 1920s; this essentially simple design of circles, showed that the company were—stylistically—moving forward with the times. Moonprint is known in Carnival Glass in a variety of shapes, some of which are exceptionally hard to find. It is also notable in that Carnival Glass in the Moonprint pattern has so far only been found in marigold. No blue examples are currently reported.

The design concept of Moonprint is, in essence, repeated circles; but there is a specific and notable pattern element which makes for easy identification. Between the concave circles there are intaglio four-point stars (or crosses). The detail (right) from one of the vase shapes, illustrates this very clearly. Around the perimeter of the pattern, the four-point stars are replaced by single tear drop shapes. This feature (in conjunction with the specific shapes known and the recognised quality of Brockwitz Carnival) allows Moonprint items to be easily distinguished from "look-alikes" (which we discuss in more detail later).

On most shapes the size of the Moonprint circles varies a little to adapt to the form of the piece—for example, on the tall trumpet shaped vase (shown above), there are six different sizes of the circle. The charm of the pattern lies in the way the convex circles hold and reflect the light, shimmering like pools of dazzling, radiant colour. It’s a stunning visual effect that is enhanced by the pattern’s essential simplicity.

Moonprint pattern detail

What shapes are found in Moonprint?

Moonprint was made in a whole range of (generally practical) shapes, such as an oblong covered cheese dish (käserglocke), a footed salad bowl (salatschale),
and a table set of creamer, covered butter and footed sugar (sahnegeisser, butterdose and zucherschale). Pictures courtesy of Seeck Auctions.

Moonprint was a later addition to Brockwitz’ repertoire, being shown in their 1926 and 1931 catalogues: all Moonprint shapes had five figure pattern numbers that were prefixed 32. In 1926, only two pages of items were depicted: several sizes of bowls and plates, vases, jardinière, butter, stemmed sugar, bonbonnière and round cheese dish.

By 1931 the Moonprint range had grown to fill five catalogue pages, increasing the variety of shapes. New items included three sizes of pitcher, two types of tumbler, lidded biscuit jar, lidded pickle jar, tea warmer, rectangular cheese stand, carafe and wines.

Important Note: there are several items in Moonprint illustrated in the Brockwitz catalogues that have not yet been reported in Carnival, such as the tea warmer, plates (in any shape or size, round or oval), and the amazing range of dressing table items (also called trinket sets) that are depicted on the right.

An amazing range of dressing table items (also called trinket sets) in the 1931 catalogue, but so far, unknown in Carnival. The shape of the powder and pomade jars is a very clever design statement - the globe shape echoes the Moonprint pattern itself.

The tea warmer is a fascinating shape, possibly unique to Europe. Although a tea warmer is not known in Moonprint, we show the shape elsewhere in Collectors Facts - it is an Inverted Prisms tea warmer, made by Josef Inwald in Czechoslovakia.

Above: extract from the 1931 Brockwitz catalogue, courtesy of Bob Smith.

Above, on the left is a Moonprint candlestick (leuchter). It was shown in the catalogue in two places: on a page with other candlesticks and also with the dressing table items. The rectangular tray shown in the catalogue image above, would have held the ring tree, pomade and powder jars and possibly two candlesticks. On the right is another unusual Moonprint shape - a covered pickle jar (mixpicklesdose). Without the lid, the jar is easily mistaken for a tumbler (albeit rather a large sized one!) or a vase.

Shapes and rarity.

The most frequently found shapes in Moonprint are bowls (several sizes, including a salad bowl with a domed foot, as shown earlier), a stemmed sugar and cream jug. Next on the availability scale in Carnival, would be the pitcher, butter dish, round cheese dish and boat-shaped jardinière. At the other end of the rarity scale are the hard-to-find tumbler, pickle jar, rectangular cheese dish, candlestick, covered bonbonnière, wine set and covered biscuit jar.

Brockwitz made several sizes in some shapes, such as the lidded bonbonnière, which is in the catalogue in four sizes. We know of two sizes in Carnival—13.5 cm/5.5 inch diameter, which is pictured below, and a smaller size, 11.5cm/4.5 inch in diameter (corresponding to 32410/3 and 32410/4 respectively, as shown in the Brockwitz catalogue illustration). On the right is a top-down view of the bonbonnière lid.

Note the incised star in the centre of the lid, which is actually on the inside. It can be seen through a “window” of un-patterned glass, giving depth and sparkle. Another clever touch by the designer.

Below: a Moonprint pitcher (bowlenkanne).

Right: a liqueur set (likörsätze) - decanter with stopper, six liqueur glasses and a tray. In another clever touch, the tray has six small circular depressions, perfectly sized and placed to fit the base of the glasses.

Vases

Vases (blumenvase) were undoubtedly popular items for the home.

Moonprint is rather unusual in that there are four different vase shapes in the pattern. All are unswung (as was the European style). The four shapes are all shown in the photo on the right.

The short, flat-bottomed vase (on the left of the picture) and the tall cylinder vase (far right) were both depicted in Brockwitz 1926 catalogue while the tall, flared, trumpet-shaped vase and the pedestal footed vase appeared in the 1931 catalogue.

The pedestal footed vase was shown in the catalogue both as as a "blumenbowl" which came with a flower frog insert to hold the flower arrangement, and also without the insert as a "traubenspüler" - a grape washer, which was also translated in the catalogue as a celery.

The cylinder and trumpet vases were made in more than one size: we can vouch for the 21cm/8.25 inches cylinder vase and the 24cm/9.5 inch trumpet vase in Carnival Glass.

A brilliant display!

In 2006, we made a presentation to a large and enthusiastic group of Carnival Glass collectors - it was called Brilliant Brockwitz.

To accompany the presentation, the collectors amazed us by bringing and displaying an astonishing number of their treasured pieces of Brockwitz Carnival Glass.

What was especially wonderful was that the display included almost all the reported shapes of Moonprint!

The photo on the right shows but a small part of the full Brockwitz display, and includes some of the rarest shapes in Moonprint. You can see the pitcher, candlestick, biscuit jar, rectangular cheese dish, pickle jar and covered bonbonnière, and all the reported vase forms.

It is unlikely that such a comprehensive display of Brockwitz Carnival Glass will ever be repeated.

You can see more pictures, and read all about it in our feature article: Brilliant Brockwitz.

How to distinguish Moonprint and spot the “look alikes”.

The design of Moonprint is essentially repeated circles, but as we said earlier, there is a specific pattern element that makes for easy identification - between the concave circles there are intaglio four-point stars. This feature should be sufficient in itself, to distinguish Moonprint from the many look-alikes.

Eda’s Kulor (circa mid to late 1920s) is a contemporary “twin” to Brockwitz’ Moonprint, but Kulor does not have those easily recognisable star shapes between the circles, and of course, Kulor is only known in distinctive vase shapes (in marigold, blue and purple).

Imperial also made a similar pattern, Oval and Round, which preceded Moonprint and Kulor. The pattern is quite different in that the main shapes are ovals (not circles). The pattern has a checkerboard effect with strong horizontal and vertical lines separating the ovals. It is known in bowls (and the occasional plate).

Moonprint with its distinctive 4-point stars between the circles.

Eda's Kulor pattern (only known in vase shapes)

Imperial's Oval and Round pattern (Seeck Auctions)

Other patterns, such as Federal’s Yorktown and Indiana’s King’s Crown also feature repeated circles or similar shapes; but they are very different and are unlikely to be confused in any way with Moonprint. However, there is one pattern that has caused some problems: Jeannette’s “Pilgrim” aka “Thumbprint” made in the 1950s. Our work in 2010 uncovered the maker of these look-alikes that were masquerading as Moonprint. Shapes known in this pattern include cocktail glass and juice set (pitcher and goblets).

Above and right: Jeannette Glass - “Pilgrim” aka “Thumbprint". Pictures courtesy of Seeck Auctions (where they were correctly identified and listed as "not Moonprint").

Design inspiration.

There’s nothing exceptionally unusual about a design featuring simple circles. Both the round circle shape and the oval (olive shape) had been used on many glass patterns previously, and in fact Brockwitz themselves had plain tankards with circles in their 1915 catalogues. A question that is interesting to ask, therefore, is why did Brockwitz introduce Moonprint to their already extensive pattern range in 1926, while at the same time, removing a number of their more ornate designs from their catalogue? Our theory is that Brockwitz were following the fashion to capture more sales; they were making their designs fit the new and popular trend of Modernism and Functionalism.

So, what exactly was that new design trend of Modernism? Arguably, for Brockwitz, it was the German born Bauhaus Modernism, which became the centre of new thinking and design in Europe during the 1920s. Its ethos was that functionality and simplicity combined with aesthetics would produce a purer form of design. The idea that mass production could (and should) be in harmony with the artistic spirit of individuality was also a strongly held Bauhaus belief. The earlier Art Nouveau style had been all about creating ornate, decorative and often complicated products. The Bauhaus approach reduced the complexity of design to simplicity, functionality and a pure form of aesthetics, of which Moonprint is a perfect example, with its bold and striking design of circles. Bauhaus principles brought modernistic design into everyday lives.

The guiding force behind the Bauhaus movement was Walter Gropius. He believed that the Bauhaus should generate designs for mass-production, designs that were simple, rational, and accessible to all. Bauhaus artists created prototypes for industrial production; their rational designs based on simple geometric shapes and primary colours. The shape that most epitomises their designs was the circle.

The Brockwitz designers embraced the new Modernism and created a design for the times. Perhaps you can’t afford a multi-million dollar Kandinsky, but you can afford a piece of Modernist Brockwitz Moonprint!

Right: Peter Keler’s Bauhaus cradle on the cover of a Bauhaus book. Peter Keler (a student of Kandinsky) worked at the Bauhaus.

Far rightt: “Circles within Circles” by Kandinsky. Courtesy: www.wassilykandinsky.net/ Kandinsky was an influential artist who taught at the Bauhaus.

To read much more about Brockwitz Carnival Glass, visit our Brockwitz Homepage.

See more Collectors Facts