New Year update

Happy new Year to you all! Thank you so much for all your lovely comments on my last post. I hit the publish- button the night before we left for New York and never got the chance to answer, but they were all so sweet and heartwarming, so thank you! I hope everyone survived Christmas. We're back to normal over here, no more jetlag and lazy days... I thought I'd show you what I enjoyed seeing the most in New York this time, but I thought I'd get this "thrift and gift" update out of the way first, to keep it a bit chronological.... If you're on Instagram, you've probably seen it already!

I'm such a lucky girl. I got two wonderful pieces of jewellry for my birthday a month ago. Remember my feature about the amazing Juhls silvergallery a couple of posts back? Well somebody's been listening! My husband gave me this beautiful brooch. I love it and have worn it a lot!

From my mum and dad I got this amazing silver ring. On my trip back home this september, we walked past the studio of three amazing female artists that make some wonderful jewellry, all handcrafted. I must have commented on this ring, or mum just knows me really well- anyway, she picked out one of the rings that really made my jaw drop! It's large, concave and oxidized. Really gorgeous!

 
You must be tired of my Festivos and Ultima Thule glasses by now, but I'll just go ahead and show you what's new:-) In early december a seven ringer found it's way to my home. After the "family photo" was taken, a friend told me a three ringer was put aside for me in my local Salvation army store if I wanted it. Boy, did I! It must have been hanging around in a smoker's home, it was all yellow, but an overnight soak in dishwashing detergent cleaned it up nicely.

Most recent family member below

Then my sweet sister gave me six Ultima Thule tumblers! I now have twelve in this size.

 

 

I don't really collect Hadeland Furu (pine), but I have a couple of large plates and I fell for these glass bowls. The design has such a lovely handmade quality, with the uneven edges, none of them identical. The Furu pattern was designed by artist Severin Brørby. I'm a bit unsure of the year, but the information I have found suggests 1972.

  

 

A new Scheurich Fabiola (far left) has joined my most colorful collection of West Germans.

Four Figgjo Tor Viking dinner plates moved into my kitchen. This quirky, cheerful pattern is a Turi Gramstad Oliver design from the 60s. The small plates are from an earlier thrifting spree.

Finally, four new Arabia Ruska plates concludes my thrifting update. Love them and use them all the time! Designed by Ulla Procope in the early 60s, they're still looking modern! See also this post.

Stavanger finds

I didn't plan to do any thrifting (and that's the truth!!) when I was in Stavanger a fortnight ago, the weekend was all about taking in the landscape (see images here) but somehow, mum and I stumbled across an open air flea market in one of the city squares, and who can resist those?

I immediately spotted this amazing set of 12  Holmegaard Ballon glasses, all in mint condition. They were designed by Per Lütken in 1973. I love the heavy, solid glass stem with the bubble and the very distinct 70s feel. This is the biggest size, they came in three different sizes, where each size was meant to serve several purposes. They  go really well with Ruska, and they're perfect for almost everything. Aren't they gorgeous?

When I got back, I found this single glass in a different size and shape, but from the same series. Perfect for a cocktail or dessert. I'm hoping more of them will turn up!

I have been collecting Ultima Thule for quite some time, but it's going really slowly. If we are not more than the four of us, however, I have enough tumblers. I prefer the Ultima Thule glasses without stems, so what do you experts out there say, can these two be combined (yesterday's dinner setting below) or are they too different? Please ignore that I couldn't be bothered to iron the placemats....

That first stall of the flea market had so many gems. I found two pieces by Nils Aa Sivertsen, one from his time with Graveren (from 1949), the other one from the time he was employed by Stavangerflint. This first one is the Graveren piece, a candle holder. There was a number of products that had this lovely "gingerbread icing". Although I've never found when this pattern was designed, I will be very surprised if it wasn't in the 50s.

This is a Stavangerflint wall plaque, the second piece by Nils Aa Sivertsen. The back says "Sweetheart" and that it's handmade. Isn't it cute? I must admit that if it wasn't brown, it would probably be too cute for my taste... Sivertsen was employed by Stavangerflint in 1968, when Stavangerflint had just merged with Figgjo. He designed several patterns, like Florry, Amber, Bardu, Beito and Karin. I'm not familiar with these. He also designed some purely decorative pieces, amongst them the wall plaques, or relieffs "Mother" and "Wedding". I'm guessing the one I found must be from this series.

Yay!! My Wiinblad monthly plaque number thirteen! That doesn't add up, right? Well, I have two Januarys and two Februarys, but this is my first December, and now I'm only missing August.

The Figgjo Hedda pattern was designed in 1977 by Rolf Frøyland. It was printed on pieces from the Omega line by Ragnar Grimsrud and was in production until 1980. I like how the lid has more solid color and givs the piece some definition. I found some egg cups in this pattern earlier, that you can see here.

And Daisy.... This is only my second piece, I found a skillet a little while ago. I don't have much blue in my home, these are amongst the very few pieces that make the cut. There's something about that almost naive, happy pattern. I had dinner on it every day when I grew up, mum and dad had this and Tor Viking. Later they got Lotte, which they still use. Daisy was designed by Turi Gramstad Oliver, and was in production from 1969 to 1975.

This is my first Elvira piece! Elvira is a handpainted pattern, also one of the wonderful designs of mrs Oliver. It was in production from 1970 to 80. I learnt in the Figgjo museum this summer that the black was printed on, while the purple and brown was painted by hand. You can easily identify the brush strokes that adds to the handpainted feel. I think the pattern reflects the time it was designed so wonderfully. I cannot make out the "June design" on the stamp as I know for sure it was designed by Oliver. Does anyone know what this means?

I've never seen these next two plates before. Designed 18 years apart, they both feature a scene with one of our most famous writers, Alexander L. Kielland (1849 – 1906) who was one of the so-called "Four Greats" in Norwegian Litterature. You might have heard of the more internationally acclaimed Henrik Ibsen, he's one of them. In my Stavangerflint souvenir plates, Kielland is the  sculpture on the market place, gazing towards the harbour in a cape and top hat.

Born in, you guessed it, Stavanger, he grew up in a rich merchant family. Kielland was the younger brother of our amazing female landscape painter Kitty Kielland. Despite being born into wealth, he had a sincere affection for the less fortunate, treating his workers well when he was a factory owner. He remained a spokesman for the weak and a critic of the hypocrisy of society throughout his time as a writer. I really enjoy reading his novels. They give such vivid images of the city at that time, with it's wharfs, fishery and canning industries that made the city before oil was discovered in the 1960s. Right now, I'm reading "Gift" (poison) which takes place in my old high school. The descriptions of the building and the cathedral next to it are so vivid, and it's so amazing to think that we attended that same school 100 years apart.

More familiar places, the first plate, decorated by Anders Jaarvik in 1968, shows him strolling in front of the medieval church at Orre, which you can see in a couple of my pictures here. He called Orre "heaven on earth", and was often seen walking the beach there, which is a place I often visit too, have a look here. His love of Orre was also said to have something to do with a woman... There's a stone next to the church, saying that this is the place he would have liked to be buried. However, when he died he was given a state funeral and a much more prominent burial site. To you Scandinavian readers there's a text on the back which is worth a read.

The second plate is much more recent, it was designed in 1986 and was one of the motifs in a series of ten designed by Henry Imsland for Lions Club. The style is more of a charicature and shows Kielland sitting in the garden of what could be the city house of the Kielland family. Unfortuneately, it was torn down many years ago and I'm not quite sure what it looked like. The family had another grand manor house which is still there and can be visited.

Kielland is said to have been quite a character, I can't resist showing you a couple of images. In the second one, he's posing with another of the "great four", Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. Oh, the clothes of that time, aren't they magnificent? It seems like Kielland wore this kind of fez for informal occasions and at home, and wore a top hat when he strolled the streets.

My last Stavanger find is this piece of Sandnes pottery. I have mentioned them in several posts, and won't bore you with the details again:-) I was thrilled to find this particular one, you rarely find them in such good condition.

Finally (phew!!!), just a pic to show you some candles I recently found for my Festivos. I think it's really hard to find candles that fit them, but these aren't half bad! I dream of finding the original ball- shaped candles, does anyone know it they're still being produced? Wish you all a wonderful week!!!

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!