A few thrifts

After taking that walk among the buildings at the university campus yesterday, I hit a couple of charity stores and found a few things. The piece that really made me gasp at the sight of it standing there on a dusty shelf, is this glass plate by Arne Jon Jutrem for Hadeland. It's the exact same shape as his Greenland- series, and has the same bubbles inside the glass, only it's in smoky grey instead of green. I'm wondering if it has the same name, does anyone know? It's not as big as the one I have in green (look here), it has a diameter of 20 cm. I'll be on the lookout for a bigger brother!

I found a stack of six more dessert bowls in the Stavangerflint brunette series that I collect (I have several previous posts about that pattern, I now have twelve of them. I never seem to find any dinnerplates. I have only one, and they have such a great shape that I really want to replace the ones I use daily. Hopefully, they'll turn up soon, I'll keep looking wherever I go.

The next ing I found is this butter cup from Figgjo in the Folklore pattern by Turi Gramstad Oliver. I have a set of these that was my grandmother's, and I really love them. Sadly, the lid is missing, as is very common with these. That was also the case with the one I found in the august pattern. But the two of them look great together, and I'll use them as little planters for some cacti or succulents.

Then, look what turned up!! Just as I ordered a Stavanger- plate on Etsy... But this one is bigger and they don't have the same shape or pattern, so they'll look great on the wall as a duo. They're both souvenir plates by Stavangerflint, they made them for a number of norwegian cities, as well as the other scandinavian capitals. The triangular shape of this one is so great, and so is all the detailing! In the second image is the medieval stone cathedral I got married in, and the building to it's right is my old school! In the third image you can see the sculpture of norwegian poet Alexander Kielland with his characteristic top hat and cape, gazing out over the marketplace and the harbour. He wrote some great novels from Stavanger in the fishery and canning era.

Finally, a bright 70s Emsa set of six coasters in a lidded container. As I'm sure you can see from my blog, I love the 60s and 70s, but mainly go for muted colors. I don't think I've ever owned anything as colorful as this, not even as a child! But being so delightfully flowerpower- ish, I couldn't leave it behind, I'll have to wait and see if it grows on me:-)

 

Ps. Pippa over at Ouch Flower awarded me a Liebster, I'm so thrilled!!! I have a hard time picking out 11 of all the great blogs out there, but I promise I'll get to it as soon as I can!

'tis the season to be jolly...

This weekend's thrifting certainly made me jolly! Or maybe ecstatic is the right word? I wasn't supposed to get myself anything, I was supposed to focus on my Christmas shopping list, but I just couldn't leave these treasures behind...

After work on Friday, I popped into the Fretex Salvation Army store where I found a set of three serving dishes in the Stavangerflint Brunette design from the 60s by artist Kåre Berven Fjeldsaa that I collect. I now have five of these in a wide range of sizes. I love this design, the pattern is so simple and refined and the color so great. I love how the edges get wider and turn into handles. The variation in color is created by the relief pattern. The smallest one originally made for sauce is my favorite, it has more of the gorgeous pattern than the larger dishes. I use it for Saturday sweets.

 

 

 

As you can see in the photo in the middle, the dishes have some variation in coloring, three of them are brown with a hint of olive, one is a bit greener, one a more golden brown. The Brunette line had a long production period, this can also be seen from the different stamps under them. The word "Ildfast", which can be found on a lot of Stavangerflint and Figgjo pieces means oven proof. I'm not sure what the word "Flamingo" refers to, I haven't seen this on the other pieces I own. The stamp on Figgjo pieces consist of the name of the brand and the spesific line (Folklore, Market etc), but I know Flamingo is not the name of this pattern. Anyone?

 

Next thing I found was this butter box in the August pattern from Figgjo. It's designed by the wonderful Turi Gramstad Oliver, who is the woman behind a great number of Figgjo designs, like Market, Lotte, Folklore etc. Her patterns are easily recognizable by their whimsical figures. All the Figgjo lines, even the newer ones, have these square butter boxes. This one is, unfortuneately, missing it's lid, but I couldn't leave it behind. I love this pattern, it has such a great 70s vibe. Maybe I'll use it as a small planter. It was in quite a sorry state when I found it, but after a good scrubbing, the white came out nice and bright.

 

 

One my way home, I stumbled upon a thrift store, or rather a warehouse, that I didn't know of. It's hidden away in an old industrial building and quite hard to spot if you don't know it's there. There was a large amount of clothing, glass, pottery, jewellry, books, old records and a lot more. There was a lot of really old stuff, but also quite a few mid century pieces in between. I immediately spotted a Stavangerflint brunette teapot that I've been looking for. And that wasn't the only thing....

 

 

I also found some Arabia Kaarna teapots, designed 1959- 60 by Ulla Procopé. This is the woman who also designed the Ruska line. The color is very similar to the Ruska, and the pattern has the same understated qualities. The Kaarna has horisontal lines that are slightly in relief and thereby a bit lighter than the background.

 

 

I found two more Hadeland heart ornaments in their original box from the 70s. I now have four hearts alltogether, a small bird and a larger one from this line. I feel so nerdy showing you the box, but I just couldn't resist! There's something about those images in the second photo that reminds me so much of Norway in the 70s.

 

 

Isn't this bird a cutie? It's a vintage piece from swedish manufacturer Eneryda glasbruk, I'm not sure of the production period. The body has color inside, while the head and tail are clear glass. The Eneryda birds came in different colors, I've seen a lot of blue ones on Etsy and Ebay, but I think it looks great in brown, it goes so well with the teak it's sitting on. 

 

 

And finally- hold your breath - I found a large piece from the Hadeland Grønland line designed in the mid 50s by artist Arne Jon Jutrem. This is a piece I thought I'd never find. I'm so thrilled! My mom has a slightly smaller version and a bowl that was on our coffee table when I grew up. I think the set was a wedding gift, they got married in 1966.

 

The Grønland plate is such a beautiful and substantial piece. It's a full 35 centimeters (13,78 inches) wide and really heavy. It has all the beautiful qualities of a handmade piece, it's not completely circular and the edges are uneven. And don't even get me started on the bubbles.... This is the feature that really makes it stand out. Isn't it beautiful?

 

 

 

 

 

The lady who owns the store told me to collect the pieces I was interested in in a basket, then she would suggest a price. In an attempt on a little modesty, I decided on the Grønland plate, an Arabia Kaarna pot (she had three) and the Brunette pot. After she had told me the total (which was very reasonable), she threw in the smaller Kaarna pot, the two hadeland hearts she noticed I'd been looking at, the glass bird and the smaller Grønland plate for free!! Such a nice lady, I'll definitely come back. Great catch, huh? I'm still on cloud nine!

 

Glass, gorgeous glass...

Inspired by Dana's post about the wonderful effect of glass, over at Mid2Mod, I'll throw in a few of my own mid- century glass favorites from Norway and Finland.

The Festivo- line of candle holders were designed by finnish artist Timo Sarpaneva in 1966. I remember when my dad arrived from a business trip to Helsinki with a couple of these as a gift for my mom some time in the seventies.

 

 

I guess I'm a hopeless nostalgic, I find myself drawn to stuff from my childhood, things that bring out fond memories. This bowl and plate from the "Greenland"- line by norwegian artist Arne Jon Jutrem was on my mom's coffee table.

What I always regarded as a typical 70s design actually date from the mid fifties. Designed for Norwegian manufacturer Hadeland, the line won a gold medal at the "Triennale di Milano" in 1954. The pieces are really heavy, and are characterized by the myriad of bubbles in the emerald green glass.

 

 

I love the Ultima Thule line! Tapio Wirkkola designed these gorgeous pieces for ittala in 1968, and they are still in production. When this design was unveiled in the 1960s, it represented something new in the glass industry and contributed to Iittala’s international breakthrough.

Thousands of hours were spent to perfect the glass-blowing technique that’s required for the ultima thule collection, whose unique pattern is created when the molten glass burns into the surface of the wooden molds. The resemblance to ice is striking, when the sun shines through the glass it glows like wet, melting ice. Oh my goodness... I've managed to get my hands on 4 dessert bowls (have a look here), but I'm constantly on the lookout for more pieces. The decanter is truly gorgeous and very high on my wish list!