ARTĚL

ARTĚL was founded in Prague in 1997 by the American entrepreneur Karen Feldman, who had arrived in the Czech Republic three years earlier to oversee production at a shampoo factory before redirecting her attention to the country's centuries-old glassmaking industry. The company built its identity on hand-engraved crystal, applying intricate, often whimsical motifs to traditional Bohemian glass forms using historic engraving techniques; by 2003 it had expanded into hand-painted decoration and colored glass. ARTĚL debuted its first collection at the New York International Gift Fair in 1998 and was profiled by The New York Times the same year. In 2002 the house collaborated with the American conceptual artist Sol LeWitt on a set of engraved tumblers, later acquired for the permanent collection of the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Subsequent commissions have come from Rolls-Royce (2004-05), Asprey (2010) and Giorgio Armani (2013), and the company has won a Tableware International Award of Excellence and a German Design Award. Condé Nast Traveler named ARTĚL among Prague's most iconic stores in 2014. The company, which marked its 25th anniversary in 2023, now operates three retail locations across Prague, with its principal Malá Strana shop remaining the anchor for its Czech-made crystal collections.