Sunday, June 09, 2013

Pieces of teak, glass and pottery


This weekend has been one of the really great ones. The weather has been sunny and warm, allowing us to have all meals out on the terrace. I love that. I didn't think I'd be doing much thrifting, but I squeezed in a small stop on my way home from work on friday, and a small trip late this afternoon. I found some stuff that I don't usually find, which was very exciting. At the local salvation Army store on friday, I found another Ultima Thule tumbler (for information, look here). I collect them, and really hope they keep turning up.

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There was also another Kosta Boda snowball votive holder, designed by Ann Wärff in 1973. I found two last week, so there's now a trio.


More glass, I found three small smoky grey Hadeland Fersken (peach) dishes, an award winning design by Willy Johansson in 1956. I guess they were originally designed as individual butter dishes, but I can also imagine they'll be great for soy or ponzu sauce for sushi.




I found this Figgjo Market piece designed by Turi Gramstad Oliver. Market is a rare find over here. A quick search on the web reveals where they all are... (rather large continent to the west:-) I have this one and a lidded serving dish. Unfortuneately, the lid was repaired with glue after having been broken, as is often the case with these. The lids are heavy and fall off very easily. I guess it will get a new life as a small planter in my kitchen in the company of two siblings, Folklore and August. You gotta love those quirky market scenes with all the glorious detail! The butter boxes were designed for what used to be the exact shape of a package of 500 grams of margarine here in Norway. That was later changed into a more rectangular shape, and consequently, Figgjo started making the lower rectangular butter boxes, like my Folklore one below (More Folklore here and here). 


 

 


 
Also, waiting for me when I came home on friday, was a package containing a four ring Festivo for my new collection, a bargain on Etsy. I now have three!!


Saturday was spent in the garden, doing a little bit of grooming. Today, my husband left early for New York, the kids were off with friends and I felt like a bit of thrifting:-) For a long time I've been curious about a lady who regularly has ads on Finn (the norwegian equivalent to Craigslist). She lives a 40 minute drive away from me, and I decided it was time to pay her a visit. She sells all kinds of retro pieces, and has an impressive glass collection. She has a room she calls the "retro room", which is covered in teak shelving full of treasures. She uses what she earns from her sales to restore her beautiful art nouveau house from 1906, and who wouldn't want to sponsor such a noble deed? I hope she doesn't mind me publishing a photo. Her current project is to restore the windows. I have to admit, the house itself was half the purpose of my trip. I love art nouveau, both my own home town and my mother's (Ålesund) has a lot of it, and I think I really fell in love when I lived in Brussels at the age of 15- 16 and visited Victor Horta's house. For you foreign guys, this is what our wooden art nouveau houses looks like. Isn't it beautiful?


I could have bought pretty much everything she had on display, but I really needed to restrain myself. A few goodies came along, though, and I will definitely be going back! The first things I fell for are these wonderful salt and pepper shakers and the salad servers and spoon in steel and teak. I'm not sure who designed the salt and pepper set, but they're most probably danish. They're large and heavy, and I will give them a light sanding and coat of oil to bring out that beautiful lustre. The salad servers and spoon are so incredibly elegant. I've seen them before on the web and have been hoping to find them one day. I know for sure they're norwegian, and I think they're designed by Thor Bjørklund who invented and patented the typical norwegian cheese slicer in 1925. I'll have to see if I can find out some more.





Next pieces I found are two Hadeland Multe bowls, also in one of my favorite glass colors, smoky grey. The Multe (cloudberry) series was designed by Willy Johansson in 1966, and was awarded "Merket for god design". I'm not sure how to translate that, but it's an award where both form and functionality is taken into consideration, given by the norwegian design counsil. They're so beautiful and simple, and I've been looking for one of these to fit the "upper deck" of my Digsmed lazy susan. It has small bowls in the same color and room for a bigger bowl on the upper level. I don't think there was one originally. 




The sweet lady had an impressive glass collection. It was hard to decide what to pick out, but what I couldn't leave behind were these modernist owls by norwegian artist Benny Motzfeldt (1909- 95). She was an amazing glass artist with a large and varied production. Aren't they gorgeous? They're not large, but very heavy, and will work as paper weights or just great sculptures.


The next piece I got was such a thrill to find. I've never seen Kronjyden Relief in thrift stores over here, so this is my first piece, a candle holder, hopefully there will be another one to join it. I love the color and the pattern, and totally agree with Birgitte, over at The Little Black House, that it resembles a danish (or norwegian for that sake) cornfield rather than something assosialted with leaves. "Relief" was designed by Jens H. Quistgaard in 1959-60.


After leaving the beautiful art nouveau home of the sweet icelandic lady, I made a quick stop at an antiques barn. They mainly have older pieces, but look what I found! A Figgjo Tor Viking lidded serving dish! It reminds me so much of growing up, we used to have this at home.Apart from this piece, I now have four small plates, two egg cups and a creamer and sugar bowl that was my mom and dad's.

 




25 comments:

  1. Hi Tove...what wonderful finds!. I love the owls and I adore the Figgjo. I can see you making a regular bee line for that sweet house!!. x

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    1. Hi Allison! Thank you so much, I'm so glad you like them! Oh yes, I will definitely be "bee lining"! I had a really great talk with her too, both about the different pieces and designers and about the restoration work. It was very interesting. Thanks again:-)

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  2. I'm overcome with joy, all those finds would have made it home with me all of them!!!!!!
    ...but now I'm jealous too!
    Love Art nouveau as well, gorgeous home!

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    1. I'm glad you like them Pippa, thank you!!! Oh yes, the house.... I was tempted to take some pictures, but it didn't feel quite right. You should' ve seen the garden facade and the wallpapers she'd picked out! Have a great week!

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  3. Extraordinary finds, each and every one.

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    1. Oh, thank you, Dana, I'm so pleased you like them:-) I had such a good time there, I was really inspired by that lady.

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  4. Oh Tove, what a wonderful group of finds...I love them all. I really like the square butter dishes, a much better shape than the rectangular ones I think....and all that lovely glassware! Those salad servers are jsut wonderful too...and there is just something beautiful about salad servers. Love the house...reminds me of some of the early 20th century wooden houses in Victoria Pippa (although they are single storey)

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    1. Thank you so much, Ray:-) I so agree with you about the butter dishes- the square ones look so much better, and they give room for more pattern too! I love how the sides usually have different motifs.
      Yes, there's been a lot of glass lately, it has just kept turning up...
      There really is something wonderful about salad server, I always fall for a nice set. The last time I fell (and acted on it:-), was for the Arne Jacobsen Cylinda line set. They're pretty impractical, but oh so beautiful:-) I'm the type who can let aesthetics win over practicality....
      The house was a true beauty, and I'm curious about those Victoria houses, I'll google! Thanks again and have a great week!

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  5. Tove, Where to start? I love it all! My favorites are the butter containers turned planters and the gorgeous owls. Thank you for all the info on the serving pieces. I have had some similar on the store and I had no idea who made them. I love the idea of the lady reselling vintage wares to restore her home. I want to go and shop at her house.

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    1. Oh yes, isn't that the greatest? I just hope she doesn't have to part with the pieces she loves the most. I really love it when old beautiful houses fall into the hands of people who really love them and do their very best to keep all the original features. You should have seen the art nouveau wallpapers she'd managed to dig up...
      I'm so glad you like my Figgjo pieces, Beatriz:-) I instantly fell for the owls. Benny Motzfeldt was an amazing female artist (don't let the first name fool you:-) who was involved in the Plus movement of artists and designers in Fredrikstad. They were a very influential group in Norwegian art and design. Maybe I should do a feature some day, there were some pretty amazing people involved.
      Thanks Beatriz!

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  6. i think i would feel faint if i found all these beautiful objects in just one week, but the ones that make my heart beat faster are the 'market' wares. we have a single figgjo market plate-with the fishmongers scene on it-the illustrations are so whimsical, i just love them.
    the house/shop is lovely and looks very similar to what is known as a 'weatherboard villa' in new zealand. these were built through all the different eras, and so some here have art nouveau features too x

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    1. Oh, thank you Max!! I agree with you, the pattern on Market is so whimsical and wonderful! I also love the green- brownish theme. They're very hard to find over here too. I would love to collect a whole set, but sadly it seems a bit unrealistic...
      I'm very curious about those weatherboard houses in New Zealand, it's very interesting to see how buildings from one period had differences and similarities internationally. In Norway, art nouveau had quite a short life, as, at the time, Norway became independent after the union with Sweden, and in the national romantic mindset of the time, it wasn't considered "norwegian enough"... Thanks again, Max:-)

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  7. Åh, så herlig! Jeg fant to Nissen Kronjyden lysestaker (runde) på Fretex i Lillehammer, og de måtte jeg bare beholde - de kommer ikke i butikken. Så fint Hadelandglass!

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    1. Hei!! Å er det de som ser ut som små skåler? De er kjempefine, og så kjekt å finne to! Det er faktisk aller første gang jeg ser Relief her i Norge. Så bra at du like Hadeland- tingene:-) Nå har jeg funnet ut hvordan Tsaikka glassene/ koppene dine ser ut, de er kjempelekre:-)

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  8. BEAUTIFUL!!!! I'll take one of each, please. HA HA! Actually I'm so drawn to those salad serving utensils. Those handles are to die for! And the shape of the spoon on the right makes me squeal with delight. Oh goodness you find the best stuff.

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    1. Thank you SOOO much, Stacey! My heart didn't just beat faster, it actually skipped a beat when I saw the salad servers. They're so beautiful, and in close to pristine condition. I've seen them on the web before and thought they were part of the Skaugum series, which was a best seller here in the 60s and is actually still in production. But these are narrower and more delicate, and surprisingly small. I hope to find out some more, they're definitely norwegian, though. I'm so glad you like them:-)

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  9. Så flott samling! Ser vi samler på mange av de samme tingene :-) Men den utrolig flotte lysestaken fra Kronjyden har vi ikke kommet over... enn så lenge :-)
    Ha ei flott uke!
    Hilsen Pep og Salt

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    1. Tusen takk!! Har hatt følelsen av at vi liker mye av det samme jeg også:-) Ting fra Kronjyden har jeg faktisk ALDRI kommet over i bruktbutikker, så den var det veldig morsomt å finne! Skulle gjerne hatt en til da...
      ha en kjempefin uke, dere også!!

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  10. Åh Tove , du har gjort så fina fynd att jag blir avundsjuk! =). Fast jag gjorde nog ett ännu bättre fynd i går, jag var med då mitt andra barnbarn föddes =), en söt liten pojke!

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    1. Grattis!!!! Så fantastisk å få være med og ta imot en helt ny skatt!! Jeg kjenner jeg blir helt varm på dine vegne!
      Utrolig hyggelig å høre!! Lykke, lykke til med den lille skatten, og kos deg med ham!

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  11. Be still my beating heart! Tove, such delicious pieces you have found. I have a few figgjo Market pieces which I have found here and there and a friend just gave me a small milk jug last week.
    And what a beautiful timber home you have shown us.
    Love it all. xx

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  12. Thank you so much, I'm so glad you like my finds!! Oh yes, Market is so charming. I love the work of Turi Gramstad Oliver, her universe is so whimsical and delicate and so full of joy.
    I wish I could show you more of that house, it was so gorgeous!

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  13. OMG Tove, you HAVE been busy!
    I have some Figgjo Market in the green too, but I don't have any of that other lovely stuff you've showed us. I think the teak salt and pepper shakers and the servers are my favourites, but I'm not picky it would all be welcome here. Ha-ha!

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    1. Thank you so much, Kylie, I think those get my vote too! I'm gonna see if I can give those shakers a little bit of TLC this afternoon, a bit of sanding and a drop of oil. They look better in the photos than they do in real life... But I adore the design, so they deserve a little effort. I've just been over at yours to admire those amazing dresses!! You all looked so lovely:-)

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  14. You have a marvelous collections of glass and pottery, Tove! Since they're delicate and fragile, it's a must that you be careful in using them. Adhesives can help in repairing them, but it will look better without damages. I just hope that the lid was glued together properly so that it will not break again. :)

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