Jiří Harcuba

Life and work

He was born on 6 December 1928 in Harrachov. From 1942 to 1945 he trained as a glass engraver at Rudolf Endler's firm in Harrachov, and in 1954 he graduated from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague in Professor Karel Štipl's studio. He taught there from 1961 to 1971; during the period of normalisation he was a political prisoner, and after 1982 he taught at several American universities. In 1990 he was rehabilitated, appointed professor, and from 1991 to 1994 served as rector of the Academy. In 1997 he established the engraved glass programme at the Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass, where he taught until 2012. He died on 26 July 2013 in Prague; since 2014 his engraving school has continued as The School of Jiří Harcuba.

Coins and medals

In 1966 he won the competition for the five-koruna coin issued from 1966 to 1992. He also designed the Czech five-koruna coin, with a large numeral 5 and Charles Bridge on the reverse and the crowned Bohemian lion on the obverse. Unlike other entrants he did not model his designs but cut them directly into a disc of hardened plaster, as he engraved glass. He signed coins HARCUBA or with the initial H. Documented commemoratives include the silver coin for the 125th anniversary of the horse tram in Brno (1994), the gold 10,000 koruna Bohemian Crown (1995) and the gold 5,000 koruna Kutná Hora – Mint Town (1996).

From the work in the AUREA range

The AUREA range includes bronze strikings of his designs for the ducat, double ducat and five-ducat piece for the 600th anniversary of the death of Emperor Charles IV of 1978, each 38 mm; for the single-ducat striking the catalogue gives a mintage of 210 pieces.