Kremlin Bells double decanter, Kaj Franck, 1960, Minneapolis Institute of Art: Decorative Arts, Textiles and Sculpture
decanter with two vessels which rest one on top of the other and stopper; bottom vessel of clear glass with rounded bottom with slightly concave foot; straight, wide neck with spout; smaller top vessel is green glass with straight cylindrical bottom section with flat foot with small concave area at center bottom; rounded top portion with tall slightly tapering neck and wide flat mouth ring; stopper has large rounded small surmounting a smaller ball; speckled and swirled clear, black, yellow-orange and turquoise glass The curvaceous “Kremlin Bells” three-part decanter is one of Kaj Franck’s spirited designs for art glass. It was part of the Finnish firm Nuutajärvi’s hand-blown art glass production from around 1958 to 1968. Over this time, colors changed, and as a result no two hand-blown examples are identical. This one has a unique mosaic glass stopper. This set also highlights one of Franck’s core principles: stackability. The middle component functions as a separate decanter, so the three-part object can contain two separate liquids. Besides saving space, it also has no handle, following Franck’s principle of material conservation and reduced costs.
Size: 14 × 5 5/8 × 5 5/8 in. (35.56 × 14.29 × 14.29 cm)
Medium: Glass, cork