Swedish Overlay is Just The Beginning

You may have heard of or seen the Swedish Overlay technique, but it is truly just one of a constellation of amazing techniques and history from Sweden's storied history as a center of glass manufacturing in Europe. This post will lay out some of the history of Swedish Overlay and the pieces created with it over the last century.

Early Graal by Simon Gate, Heinrich Wollmann, and Knut Berqvist for Orrefors, 1918. Image credit Lillian Nassau, LLC.

Origins

The origins of Swedish Overlay come from early experiments at Orrefors to produce cameo glass. The immense popularity of French and American cameo glass pieces led master blower Knut Bergqvist and Heinrich Wollmann to explore how to put a unique spin on the technique for Orrefors.

Of course, cameo glasses are layered and engraved once cold. But in December 1916, Bergqvist and Wollman had the idea to reheat the carved glass, encase it with clear, and blow it into a new shape. New to the world, the name Graal, refering to the Holy Grail, was ascribed to the technique as clear glass encased the precious carvings, often ruby red, as the Grail enveloped the blood of christ.

Some hundreds of Graal pieces were produced by Orrefors for years afterward, which presaged the rarest and most sought after pieces ever made by Orrefors: Ariel glass.

An Edvin Ohrstrom Ariel glass vase, Orrefors, Sweden, 1937

Ariel glass, named for the air spirit in Shakespeare's play The Tempest, involves trapping air in a pattern within an engraved glass piece. The technique was apparently discovered by accident when glassblowers at Orrefors noticed deeply engraved Graal pieces trapped air bubbles. The technique is among the most unique in the world, and was a signature of Orrefors. Every major designer at Orrefors from 1937 to 1980 worked in Ariel at some point.

Contemporary Examples of Overlay

I have had a difficult time creating a conhesive list of artists who use the overlay regularly in their work, but here are a couple of peers whose work I admire. I learned from Micke Johansson, a master glassblower from Orrefors and the premier user and teacher of overlay, Graal, and Ariel in the world. Notably, Micke has created the first two layered Ariel and is the only person I know to have done so successfully.

Midgårdsormen, Micke Johansson, 2024

Peter Hermansson is another artist gaining notoriety for his large Graal and Ariel works. Based at the Holmegaard glass factory in Denmark, Hermansson's work pushes scale and feature abstract portraits and symbols.

Shadow Play, Peter Hermansson, 2024

Here in the US there are a smattering of folks who focus on Graal, but I know of no one else routinely making Ariel glass. Glen Echo Glassworks has done some amazing work reinventing Orrefors glass techniques, as well as John Brekke in NYC who makes some very psychedelic Graal work. Otherwise, you can find me working and teaching Swedish glass techniques at Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle, WA.

Me demoing a Graal piece at Pratt Fine Arts Center