Lot 92

Pavel Janák (1882 - 1956) LIDDED JAR "CRYSTAL"

The icon of Czech Cubist applied art, Janák's jar with a lid, is conceived as a multifaceted polygon, composed of regular pyramidal shapes attached to the cubist core. Its ivory glaze and shape, finished at the edges with a black line, resembles a crystal, Janák's expression of a maximally formed mass. A symmetrical jar with a lid can be interpreted through Janák's theoretical considerations, devoted to simple stereometric bodies. Janák, who was a great supporter of Crystallism, entwined the crystal with many speculations, enabling a deeper penetration into its aesthetics at the time. This type of Janák's jar has been part of several exhibitions, for example in Prague, Vienna, Helsinki and Tokyo, and is included in several publications, such as: Artěl, Czech Cubism 1909–1925, pp. 318 and 319, Czech Cubism Architecture and Design 1910– 1925, pp. 274.