Mottled Glass Vase – Müller Frères
Mottled glass is produced by having light and dark areas of the primary colors in different areas of the glass, typically in rings, which causes them to integrate as it is formed which minimizes obvious transitions in colors and allows all of the colors to be included at once. This was another glass technique pioneered by Tiffany.
The Müller Brothers, Désiré, Henri, Camille, Victor, Eugene and Auguste, sons of an innkeeper in Kalhausen, had to flee to France in 1870. Henri Müller leased space in the Croismare glassworks near Nancy, in addition to setting up a glassworks in Luneville.
The brothers become specialists in color, and were more artisan than industrial. They engraved and carved their glass, known as cameo glass. They became skilled in color, and would multiply the number of superimposed layers of glass.
Müller Frères received a silver medal at the International Exhibition of Turin in 1911 and a gold medal at the exhibition in Lyon in 1914. Eugene was killed in WWI and the shops were no longer active. By 1925, they had 250 employees at Croismare and 100 in Luneville. By 1927 there were 350 employees in Croismare and 100 in Luneville. By 1934 the family was seized, and by 1936 all activity was finished, until 1938-1940. Désiré worked from 1943 to 1957.