Orrefors Öhrström Crystal Vase, "Wish to the Moon"

Vintage Orrefors Wish To The Moon by Edvin Öhrström Engraved Signed Crystal Vase

Designed by Edvin Öhrström in 1942, this is the best-selling engraved motif produced by Orrefors. The beautiful young girl is on the front of the vase, and the celestial bodies are on the back, giving the scene depth. The vase is heavy fine crystal measuring 4 inches tall, 6 1/4 inches long, and 2 1/4 inches across. It is signed Orrefors Öhrström and numbered 2769 on the base. The piece was made in 1962, and it is in very good condition, with only a few scratches to show for its sixty years.

Karl Edvin Öhrström was born in Burlov, Sweden in 1906. Having a father who worked in the railroad at Halmstad, he had himself worked as a railroad worker for a while. However, he soon decided he wanted to be an art teacher and studied at the Tekniska skolan in Stockholm. Later, he studied sculpture at the Royal University College of Fine Arts under the tutelage of Carl Milles and Nils Sjögren. For the next 25 years, Edvin worked at Orrefors glassworks for a couple of months every year.

The Orrefors story began in 1726, when an ironworks and smith was built near “the beautiful river that flows into Lake Orranäs” in the Swedish countryside. It was given the name Orrefors, which means “the Orre waterfall.” (Orre is the Swedish name for the black grouse, which is the bird seen on their iconic labels.) The foundry was converted to a glassworks in 1898, as the demand for iron decreased. By the mid-1920s, Orrefors was celebrated for the quality and beauty of its glass.