Gebruder Eiselt Style Glass

Several of the Steinschönau Eiselts are among the most famous of the town's glassmakers.  Hermann Eiselt (*1895 Steinschonau + 1974 Wilhelmshaven), his brother Paul Eiselt (*1887 Steinsch. +1961 Rheinbach), and another brother Arnold (Engraver and designer) who was for 7 years a professor at the Haida Glasfachschule, and worked also for Lobmeyr.     There is also Josef Eiselt, possibly a cousin (*1896 Steinsch. +1975 Hadamar.)

Some of this information, and the following text, has most happily been enhanced by the best possible source- the widow of Hermann Eiselt.    The original page on this website led to us being contacted by Ms. Renate Helm-Eiselt, whose mother in law, Mrs. Ursula Eiselt was married to Hermann, and is now living in Germany.   So we are delighted to be able to update this page, enhanced with the first-hand knowledge of Mrs. Ursula Eiselt and her immediate family.   

A small mystery, and the solution:
Pictured here are examples of the Gebruder Eiselt style and are from one of  piece of glass.  There is also a close-up of the signature, in small case lettering.    According to the various book and auction references to Eiselt glass there has been some academic argument about this signature.   This glass, and many others in the same style, is inscribed (not stamped) "radierung" (referring to the enameling technique) "best".     And "best" according to some experts, including Carolus Hartmann who wrote the collector's bible of signatures, the Glasslexicon, stands for Bruder Eiselt Stenschonau, i.e. "b.e.s.t." There's a less personal version that one Viennese expert has noted, which is that it could stand for "bestandig"- permanent or fixed, a rather archaic word for it, but possible.  So the signature could actually be a reference to something like "stainless steel" or "unbreakable china"- i.e. permanent enameling.  Auction houses have over the years used both these versions in their listings, together with a third version- decyphering the signature not as "best", but "hest".    The letter at the start could indeed be a "b" or an "h".

We are able to say now, thanks to the intervention of Mrs. Eiselt, that the third version is the correct one, and the inscription is indeed "hest".    She tells us that these letters are the signature of her late husband, and stand for "Hermann Eiselt Steinschonau".   We will pass on this information to the various publications, and our thanks go to Renate Helm-Eiselt for making such a very welcome contact.