Eight Norwegians and a Finn

There hasn't been much time for thrifting lately, and I haven't been very active on the blogging front. I hope some of you are still around... The process of taking over the company I work for has drained me, we also have an huge amount of projects, big and small. Which is good. I guess.....Still, being creative and innovative when there's so much on your plate is not always easy.

I finally managed to pop by a couple of thrift stores this Saturday and found some nice pieces. Apart from Figgjo and Stavangerflint, both brands from my home town, I love Egersund fajance, as I'm sure you've noticed:-) What I find particularly interesting is that the factory produced for such a long time and covered a broad spectre of periods. The pieces I found on saturday represent two of them, the 70s and the 30s.

I'm falling deeper and deeper in love with Unique, their eggyolk colored design from the early seventies. I adore the cheerful, shiny 70s vibe and the handpainted touches. I find both the colors and shapes to be so very typical for that decade of bright colors and great graphics. Unique was designed by Kaare Block Johansen in 1971 and was in production until 1976, just a few years before Egersund Fajance closed down in 1979.  I've found quite a lot of these by now, and use them daily, mixed with Korulen. You can see the amazing teapot and cups in my previous post and find more information about both Unique and it's "sibling" Korulen here and here. This time I found two large serving dishes and a lidded sugar bowl, all in mint condition.

The factory made some rather lovely art deco pieces, this latest one I've found has a pattern which is very typical for that era. I have a few more art deco pieces by Egersund fajance, but sadly have not been able to find out anything about the artists behind them. 

I found this large and lovely Cathrineholm casserole in a design which is not so common. It may be inspired by the Finel mushrooms, or the other way around, I don't know which came first. The pattern is in a deep, muted green and the greyish white background has a hint of green. It's in great shape and the best part-  I got it for next to nothing, 75 kroner (equivalent to 12 USD or 9 euros)!!

A while ago, I found some Stavangerflint "Mesterkokken" ("Chef") dishes in reddish brown, yellow and teal, designed, silkscreened and handcolored by Inger Waage. This Saturday, I found three plates in the blue version of the design. I don't have much blue in my home, but I couldn't resist these. The pattern and color of these blue ones makes me think of Delft, I wonder if she was inspired by their lovely designs? "Mesterkokken" was introduced around 1960, I haven't been able to pinpoint the exact year. One of the dishes I found the last time originally had a lid, but as is often the case with vintage lids, they've gone missing years ago. I've seen in old ads, though, that both color combos had brown lids. See my previous post on this design here.

I'll leave you with my most cheerful find this time, this gorgeous Arabia Finel enamel pot, designed by Kaj Franck. The pattern is by Esteri Tomula, a great graphic designer from Finland who is the woman behind numerous  amazing Arabia designs.