The collection
Tall, tapering carafe in transparent green glass with two clear glasses, one placed as a lid on the carafe.
1959

Carafe

Designed by
Adolf Matura (1921–1979)
Material
Glass
Produced by
Borské Sklo Glassworks, National Corp, Novy Bor, Czechoslovakie
Dimensions
28.3 x 6.9 x 6.9 cm

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Liliane and David M. Stewart Collection, D83.122.1

Czech designer Adolf Matura was interested in creating useful objects for everyday life and for minimal midcentury interiors. He championed “mass products, freed from their often senseless conservative adornments.”

Each of the clear drinking glasses could double as a lid, with its deeply indented base fitting perfectly into the opening at the top of the carafe. The simplicity of the form and coloration was reminiscent of Scandinavian glass design at midcentury. The purity of the form of this carafe and accompanying glasses earned it a gold prize at the 1961 Milan Triennale.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, photo: Giles Rivest.