When the first bottles were blown in Leerdam around 1765, Pilgrim and Meeder became the first in a long list of bottlemakers and glassblowers to work on the banks of the River Linge. The modern era began in 1878 when a new Leerdam business was set up to produce blank stemware and pressed glass with plans to export it to the UK, Mexico and South America.
The Visionary
The fame and success of the Leerdam factory in the first half of the 20th century is mostly due to one man; its director P.M.Cochius. who worked his way up through the factory to become director in 1912 and then lead it for more than 35 years.
His legacy included;
His development of a new 'sober' style based on designs by K.P.C. de Bazel and later by A.D. Copier, et al.
His introduction of a broad and effective social plan to improve work and living conditions.
His ambition to bring high-quality 'designer' products to the mass market at modest prices, publicise the designers by name, and focus on improved technology as well as improved design. (a trend known as 'kunstnijverheid' or 'industrial art').
His careful investment in machinery and plant capable of international-scale production and pricing.
The Leerdam brand recruited famous architects as its first designers and, with popularity of Copier's designs, managed to establish a series of house-styles which are distinctive and stylish. The focus on training a new generation, ensured that design standards remained high whilst production-efficiency continued to increase.
Despite the death of Cochius in 1938, the factory was protected during the war by the fact that it was substantially owned by the Berlin-based Haye family, and after the war quickly moved to capture new international markets.
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The Designer
Copier's designs soon became well-known with stemware ike Peer, Smeerwortel and Romanda becoming popular examples of 'Kunstnijverheid'. The factory produced popular vases and tableware collections and innovated their catalogue with up to 10 new designs each year through the pre-war period.
Andries Dirk Copier (in 1932)
In addition to his own designs, patterns by designer-draughtsmen Jacques Boon en Gijsbert Copier (vader van Andries) were also approved for production, |
Copier's designs soon became well-known with stemware ike Peer, Smeerwortel and Romanda becoming popular examples of 'Kunstnijverheid'. The factory produced popular vases and tableware collections and innovated their catalogue with up to 10 new designs each year through the pre-war period.
With pre-war designs back in production and selling well, Copier continued to expand the Leerdam catalogue, and in 1957 the 75 year-old factory (which had become famed for it's orange vases) was awarded the title Royal Leerdam.
With pressed glass designs selling well, and increasing mechanisation, Copier himself turned his focus back to the hand-finished and hand-blown products.
Notable Copier products included small vases using the controlled bubble technique (1938), and a popular series of large vases covered in narrow horizontal ribs (1953) , as well as one-off pieces (Unica) in a huge range of techniques and finishes.
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A master of stemware, his classic Gilde ('Guild', 1930) and Gourmet (1958) wineglasses have remained in (machine) production until this day.
His one-off 'Unica' pieces are the backbone of many serious collections but very rarely come on the market. As a master of experimentation each group of work reflects his efforts to collect old techniques, adapt them and invent mew ones.
Among his most collected works are the various square cactus pots, round shallow cactus bowls and flower pots made in a pressed-glass technique called graniver. Typical of the 1930's, they are found in a range of sizes in red, white and blue, but have proved easily damaged in use. Only perfect examples command top prices.
A large cactus bowl with its stand, in good condition and bearing Copier's (impressed) monogram, is valued (2006) at 200-1000 euros depending on size and colour. |
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Leerdam (1917-1961): Glass at a Glance
12-picture overview
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K.P.C. de Bazel (1869-1923) designed at least 10 basic forms for Leerdam's stemware ('Servies A-J') which were widely successful over many decades. His designs for pressed glass flatware and clean, simple vases were also a great influence on his successors, especially A.D. Copier who continued to design a style of undecorated and unfacetted (coloured) glassware which became both popular and desirable. His large bowls and vases with tin-caraquelure were sold for good prices in large numbers, whilst his pressed glass breakfast-set Neerlandia and Primula graced the tables of many ordinary homes. In addition to his designs for mass-produced items, Copier also established a good market for his unique art-glass ('Unica') and series-ware ('Serica', 'Multica').
Advances in technology meant that smaller glass ovens were possible and therefore glassmakers were no longer dependent on the Leerdam site to produce their work. The kristal workshops became increasingly independent from the industrial factory next door, and were eventually sold as an independent business making expensive crystal art for special occassions and collectors.
Floris Meydam came to the fore as a Leerdam designer after 1949 and his flare for brighter colours and streamlined forms carried the factory through to the 1980's. Although he began his career with the Libra flatware service, and Formula stemware, he is more appreciated for his hand-made unica and serica.
Other designers worked for Leerdam over the years incl. C. de Lorm, C.J. Lanooy, H.P. Berlage, J.J.C. Lebeau, S. Valkema, W. Heesen, G. Thomassen, and S. van der Marel.
Students from the Dutch School of Glass and many visiting artists have also been given the opportunity to work at the Leerdam factory on an occassional or bursary basis.
The Glass Centre in Leerdam is open all year round, allowing visitors the chance to see modern handblown glass being made. Most of the artists and students you can see working there come from Eastern European schools.
The Flora vase in amber with vertical optic, a hit design in a range of sizes.
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The graniver technique uses chips of coloured glass which are jointly heated and pressed into the mould to give a granular finish. Copier's pressed monogram in the centre of the base is therefore always clear.
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In 2011 the published documentation was enhanced by a large volume by Joan Temminck and Laurens Geurtz published under the title "Copier Compleet". Although it is restricted to the work of A.D. Copier himself and pays scant attention to other (Leerdam) designers, it remains the most authoratative book on the subject.
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