Vera Lisková (Czech, 1924-1985) was one of the first artists to use flameworked borosilicate glass for large-scale sculpture. Borosilicate glass was invented in Germany in the late 1880s. Its low thermal expansion co-efficient makes it ideal for scientific use, and many studio artists working with borosilicate glass, such as Lisková, were trained in scientific, or laboratory, glassblowing. The name of this vase refers to the Japanese tradition of flower arrangement, called ikebana, in which individual stems are arranged to show off the beauty of each flower.