Α28 - Glasswork Objects – OXYAL Greek Chemical Fertilizer Company SA

The Greek Chemical Fertilizer Company SA was founded in 1909 and produced mainly fertilizers. Later, the company expanded in the glass industry, showing impressive growth in the 1930s. More specifically, its artistic department dealt with all known ways of processing and decoration, and produced, among other things, crystal tableware. A certain category of artistic objects, the “archaic” cups and vases that were inspired by antiquity, was totally handmade, without mechanical interference. A special processing with fluorine or enamel lend to this category of glasswork objects an aging color and appearance.

“Archaic” glasswork products gained honorary dis- tinctions at international exhibitions, such as the Paris International Fair in 1937 and the World International Fair in New York in 1939. The art of the blower or the decorator gave products that could be characterized as works of art. In fact, inside the fertilizer premises at Drapetsona, there was a “museum of glass products”.

This particular group of objects is called OXYAL. The production of handmade works of art on one hand served the need of a part of the population for “luxury” goods in their everyday life. On the other hand, especially “archaic cups” set a more “ethnic” tone, as a continuation of the production of similar items from ancient to modern Greece. In fact, the founder of “Keramikos” pottery workshop would try the same in a different sector.