Fall finds

Fall is definitely here, no matter how much I try to cling to summer... I guess we can't complain though, the last weeks have been gorgeous, real indian summer with temperatures in the 20s. This weekend has been a bit wet, and fall colors have started appearing. Thrifting has been a bit slow lately, but yesterday I managed to squeeze in a couple of stores.

I've seen the Arabia Ruska teapot around a few times, but have always thought that since I so rarely drink tea, and have several teapots already, I couldn't get another one... This time I gave in. It's just so beautiful. There's something special about pots. And cups. I have a teaset for 6 now, with extra coffecups which are small and great for espresso, as well as 12 dinner plates and serving dishes.

I didn't know that it had an infuser inside for "real" tea. The infuser is even ceramic, that's a great feature. Below are three more Stavangerflint egg cups in the Sera pattern, designed by Inger Waage. I have a few of these from an earlier hunting trip.

I found another one of these little "tweeters" from a line of glass ornaments by Hadeland. There's not much to be found about these on the web. I wouldn't have known anything if it weren't for the fact that I remember them from home. Mum had some of them and I therefore know for sure they're from the 70s! I've collected 7 of them until now. My favorite is the bird, I love the shape. I once found one in the original box, which is SOOO 70s Norway!

 

I found a serving plate and bowl from the Stavangerflint Finse line. I love these, the shape of the plate is so great, rounded but slightly rectangular. The design is by Kåre Berven Fjeldsaa. I love his work, it's always so subtle and refined. The light olive green and brown combo is gorgeous, and it combines really well with Ruska, it has that same surface and style. I now have a teaset for 12 and several with egg cups. You can see and read more here and here. There's a bit of information about Fjeldsaa in that first linked post.

I found this Wiinblad plate a couple of weeks ago but forgot to show it to you. It was a corporate gift in 1978 for employees in the danish firm Imerco and is handpainted and signed. It shows a scene from a livingroom, with Wiinblad's usual quirkiness and amazing attention to detail. I love those rice lamps!

Today I visited a farm not far from where I live to pick some corn. This is quite common here at this time of the year. You bring a bag, fill it and pay a few kroner. I love doing that, and they're SOOO sweet and delicious, much better than those you can get in the store. Today was a bit rainy, but not too bad. The sky was tealy grey, which always looks good in pictures. The teal sky and the yellowing fields looked so great together.  The farm has several workshops, and sell different crafts and produce. And what do you know- there was even some vintage today! 

I have fallen deeply in love with Egersund Fajanse and Graveren's art deco pieces. I found this low bowl at the farm market today. It's got this great abstract decor in brown and yellow and I'm pretty sure it was designed in the 20s. It has the simple stamp with text only,  "Egersund Norge".

 

I also found another herring jar from Figgjo's Folklore series. I have another one that I got from my mother in law with the exact same text, but a different shape. They are more or less the same size. You can see it here.

As always with Folklore, there's some flirting going on at that table...

A few pics from the market stalls inside the barn. Lots of crafts, produce, there was even a guy who sold old record players, I mean REALLY old ones and there was music from the 30s playing on one of them to add to the atmosphere. I love seeing constructions like these. See the rice lamp with the butterfly? There was a seller who made these lazer cut wooden things. They were really nice with the light wood and the dark edges. 

  

In the middle of the corn field...

 

 

Fall is inevitably here, I guess. Which I don't mind, only problem is- winter comes after!  Have a great week!

PS. Head on over to Max at Blackbird has spoken  for some gorgeous thrifted treats!

Graveren by Ragnar Grimsrud

I'm so excited over here, I've managed to dig up some information about the large Graveren plate I bought in a charity store in Stavanger, look here. It is indeed a Ragnar Grimsrud piece!! I searched for Graveren pieces on the web to see if I could find a similar one, and thereby date it and find out who designed it. I finally did, in a site called Digitalt Museum. It's a great resource that I often use, it's basically the collections of the major museums, digitalized.

I found a picture of a bowl that has almost exactly the same pattern as my plate that was dated 1930-39, designed by Ragnar Grimsrud during his time as head artist/designer at Graveren. I also found two other pictures of pieces in the same wonderful Art Deco style, a liqueur carafe and a vase. They are both in the dark end of the colors used in the pattern on my plate and I'm therefore suspecting they were all part of a series. The carafe is also dated to that same period 1930-39, while the vase is a bit earlier, 1928-33. All the pieces are part of museum collections, the bowl in Norsk Folkemuseum, the carafe and vase in The National Museum.

 

Many artists were connected to Graverens Teglverk. Ragnar Grimsrud (who also worked for Figgjo and is considered one of our most talented pottery makers of the 1900s) is the most renowned, and became head designer (artistic leader) in 1928. His work was among the most appreciated during his time in the company, and after Graveren's participation on the Paris fair of 1925, one of his pieces were added to the collection at the ceramics museum in Sevres. 

Many Graveren pieces are marked like this, with two three- digit numbers, the upper  number being the number of the design, and the lower the decor.There's also the little factory stamp with the pipe and the letters "Gr". It's hard to see in this picture, it's in the upper right corner, upside down.

I feel like I struck gold with this one. Due to a small imperfection, a little crack along the edge, the price was only 30 NOk, that's just 5 USD or 3,30 GBP!! I don't mind that little flaw one bit, I'm never gonna sell this beauty anyway! I've moved stuff around a little bit and paired it with my older Graveren storage jar turned planter on the dining table.