Eduard Ferdinand von Poschinger (1857-1921) Bavarian, Art Nouveau Glass Vase. Smokey exterior with irregular purple lines across and fluted top. 

Size: 8 x 8 x 5 in. 

#2498 . 

The Poschinger Glass Factory is a glassware manufacturer based in Frauenau, Germany. The company was founded in 1568 by members of the ancient Bavarian House of Poschinger, making it the oldest glass factory in Germany and the longest continuously family-owned one in the world. In 1835 Johann Michael von Poschinger II built a mirror factory on the grounds of the Ober Frauenau Estate, as well as a glass grinding shop near the Kleiner Regen. After Johann died in an accident in 1863 his son Georg Benedikt von Poschinger II took over the company, developing a relationship with the Zwiesel-Grafenau railway line to supply them with low-cost coal. His brother Eduard Ferdinand succeeded him as owner in 1900, and hired Isidor Gistl to manage the glassworks from 1905 to 1924, who increased the number of employees from 150 to 500. It was during Ferdinand’s ownership that their most famous pieces were made, blending Art Nouveau concepts with a smokey opacity and iridescent features that appealed to collectors throughout Europe. During World War II the company was managed by Hippolyt Poschinger von Frauenau, who maintained family control afterwards, eventually handing it down to his son Stephan in 1980. In 2007 Benedikt Poschinger became the fifteenth family member to manage the company, opening up the large private family estate into a museum, winery, and convalescence home for the elderly with dementia. Throughout the centuries their glass was prized by Austrian, Bohemian, and German nobility, and although the Glass Factory itself ceased operations on November 30, 2021, the extensive Poschinger family controls nearly two dozen estates, many of which continue to operate glasswork-adjacent enterprises.