The Lötz Witwe (Widow Lötz) glassworks in Bohemia was named after glassmaker Johan Lötz when his widow Susanne and her new husband Frank Gerstner assumed ownership of the company in 1851. The business subsequently thrived under Susanne’s grandson Maximilian von Spaun and became synonymous with the Art Nouveau style, which flourished in Europe from 1890 to 1910 and was inspired by the natural world.  

This piece was probably created for the company by Franz Hofstötter, responding to the iridescent glass Louis Comfort Tiffany and the Steuben Glassworks popularised in the 1890s after caches of Roman glass were unearthed, having reacted to minerals and salts after centuries underground. Goose-necked sprinkler belongs to the ‘Papillon’ (‘butterfly’ in French) series, named after the insect’s opalescent wings. Influenced by Persian vessels made to scatter rosewater, the sprinkler marks the zenith of the company’s achievements, with similar examples winning prizes at the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle.