Sunday, January 13, 2013

A few new ones


How was your weekend? Good, I hope! I took my youngest one (he's eleven) for some Saturday shopping yesterday, he got to have a look in his favorite electronics chain and I got to explore a charity store that I didn't know of.
We both had a great time, and guess what- I think I might have raised a thrifter! Out of a pile of junk he pulled a BAY West Germany planter. In brown!!! He came over and said "isn't this the kind you like, mum?" Remind me to bring him treasure- hunting again! The place was so full of stuff and the aisles so narrow, that at first I was a bit nervous he would break something. What was I thinking?


While he was busy somewhere else (they had a comics department, extremely convenient), I found these two cute Egersund cups in the pattern called "Korulen". Sadly, they had no saucers, but they don't appear in thrift stores very often, so I got them anyway. They cost next to nothing. They are quite small, almost the size of espresso cups. I love this pattern, it's a very happy 70s one. It was designed by Kaare Blokk Johansen and Unni Margrethe Johnsen in the mid 70s.


Are you foreign friends familiar with the Egersund brand? Alongside Figgjo and Stavangerflint, which I'm so proud to see has gained fame worldwide, this was an equally great fayance factory in the southwest of Norway. Alas, the factory has closed it's doors some time ago, but there's this great little museum that we went to when I visited my home town this summer. I really recommend it if you're anywhere near, it's pretty close to pottery heaven. Check out this post. The guy who made the cabinets for the museum is the same one who's making my new kitchen!


Ok, back to the charity store. I got a dilemma as we were leaving. Turns out, they have heaps of Arabia Ruska pieces, the great design by Ulla Procope... I love that design and could have just gone bananas and bought the whole lot, but I guess reason got to me. After all, I'm collecting whatever I can lay my hands on from the Stavangerfint Brunette dinner set, and have found some great serving dishes. Dinner plates seems to be hard to come by, though, so it's going rather slowly. I do love the Brunette design, and the color is gorgeous, so I will keep on collecting it. It's from my home town too:-) The sweet lady in the store told me they normally had a good selection of the Ruska, so I guess I can sleep on it:-) I bought a small lidded bowl that I'll use for jam, as a small reminder. I found this great image that shows the whole Arabia Ruska series on a site that sells great design form Finland, check it out here.



Speaking of Egersund, I don't think I've shown you the beautiful little pitcher my parents gave me as a house gift when they arrived for Christmas? The size is actually somewhere between a pitcher and a creamer, my guess is that it was meant for custard or some other sauce for dessert. It was designed in 1910 by Jakob Sømme and came in five sizes. It was in production until 1973, and is considered one of the factory's most iconic pieces. It's called "Alkemuggen"(Razorbill pitcher/ jug), named after the north Atlantic sea bird. I see that I called it the "Puffin jug" in  the above mentioned post, but that's not the right seabird... Isn't it beautiful?  What I find so amazing about the Egersund museum is to "read" the different eras in the designs when you see them all displayed chronologically. I think this little fella shows some remains of art nouveau and some emerging art deco. I never dreamed of owning one of these!



8 comments:

  1. Ooh, your kitchen is going to be beautiful Tove, I've had a look at that cabinetry, Wow! I can't wait to have a little sticky beak (peek) when it's finished.
    I love EVERYTHING you've showed us in this post (oh your little puffin jug! I saw them all lined up in that pic in the Egersund museum - Gorgeous!) and big ticks to your boyo for finding that Bay planter. You've gotta love a kid who thrifts.

    p.s. I am scared to ask, but do you drill holes in the base of your planters? I find that after a short time my plants start looking 'sick' (due to poor drainage?) but drilling holes in lovely ceramics seems a very naughty thing to do...

    p.p.s I love your blog Tove, so glad Pippa told us about it.

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    1. Thank you so much, Kylie, that's so sweet! And ditto- I'm really glad I found yours too! This is so nice, reminds me of when we had penpals, way back in the 70s and 80s:-)
      I really hope my new kitchen will be as great as it is inside my head, I'm crossing my fingers! I'm looking forward to the day it's done and I can show you!
      No, I'm afraid I don't drill holes in my pots... I agree with you, I just can't bring myself to harm good pottery:-) I keep the plant in the plastic pot it comes in (that has holes in it), and put a few pebbles in the ceramic pot. When I water the plants I take them out of the pots, hold them under the faucet and let them stay in the sink for a few minutes to let the excess water out. Learnt that from my gran, she had pots like that. But I do believe that planting directly into a terracotta pot with good drainage is better...

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    2. Thanks Tove, trouble is none of the plants round here in plastic pots seem to fit my ceramic ones. I've tried cutting them down to fit, but this doesn't work either because there is not enough 'dirt' left for the plants to grow healthily. Oh well, I'll find a solution one day...

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    3. I'm sorry that doesn't work out for you! Actually I don 't think my plants would turn down some more space either... Sounds like yours have a very good home:-)

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  2. It's so wonderful that your son is turning into a little thrifter...and that he has paid attention to what his mom loves. That's very sweet of him.

    I can't wait to see your cabinets when they're done. If the cabinetmaker does museum-quality pieces, they should be spectacular.

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    1. I hope you won't be disappointed! The museum is a small local one, but yes, the cabinetmaker is good. It's a young firm that has already earned some well deserved publicity. As I told Kylie, I really hope it turns out as great as it is inside my head:-) It won't be anything fancy, I'm not at all into that, just really nice materials and clean lines. What I fell for is the great wood surfaces he uses, and when he showed me the teak veneer I was sold:-)
      How great that we have the black appliances and lamps in common, I'm so curious to find out what kind of finishes you've chosen for your cabinets!

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  3. STOP! your thriftiness is killing me! I'm so envious....but I scored a 89 set of Ruska before Christmas yet to blog about! :)

    The kitchen cabinets will be perfect, your visualisations and faith in the craftsman will be perfect!
    I have awarded you a Liebster Award it's for recognition and a sharing of your blog with others! xx

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  4. Wow, I'm looking forward to seeing your Ruska set!
    Thank you sooo much for awarding me the Liebster! As the virgin blogger I am, I admit I had to google it:-) I'm so thrilled, I'll get to it as soon as I can:-)

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