Thrifts and treasures

I spent last weekend in Stavanger at my parents house, just relaxing, taking in the salty North sea air, watching the waves, photographing, having delicious prawns and doing no (yes, that's right:-) thrifting! Still, I managed to bring home some treasures. My dad's been at it again, and has made me another gorgeous bag. He makes them out of thick, delicious, natural tan leather that turn into a wonderful golden brown after some use and a few rounds of beezwax. I've had the large bag to the right for around a year. It's my everyday bag that I use for work. It has a long strap and can carry just about anything, my laptop, umbrella, hairbrush etc. The new bag is a much smaller size with a short strap. I'm such a lucky girl, he's made me a camera bag, belt and make- up bag. Apart from the unsurpassed leather and handcrafted quality, they're extra precious because dad made them! See more pics here.

I also brought home some of my grandmothers old pottery. Aren't they lovely? The one to the left is traditional Sandnes pottery. It's not stamped, but it must be either Gann, Graveren or Gann Graveren (after the two companies merged). My collection of this pottery is now quite numerous, and this is the smallest one until now, it's only 13 cm tall (the largest one is almost 40 cm and is the home of a large Monstera). My dad told me he remembers his mother used it for jam. It has a little less glaze than the bigger ones. The two planters in the middle are unmarked, and I have no idea who made them. They have an unusual glaze that's quite lovely. The last and biggest one is Strehla.

  

 

Do you remember I showed you my husband's lovely Stavangerflint plate that he had as a child? The pattern is "Venner" (Friends) and was designed by Gro Pedersen Claussen. My mum let me take my own Stavangerflint set back with me. The pattern is called "O du som metter liten fugl" and was designed by Anne Lofthus. I remember how I knew the pattern by heart and made up stories about the little birds and animals. I showed it on Instagram today, and got the sweetest comment from a lady from my home town, saying she remembers it from her kindergarden in the late 60s. She also told me she was sure one of the birds was named after her sister. I guess this shows how important the visual surroundings are for a child's imagination.

 

 

 

This weekend has been busy, but I managed to squeeze in a short stop at my nearest thrift store yesterday. It's a large shed really, but the owner really makes an effort, she lights candles and plays 30s music, trying to create a vintage atmosphere, she's a really sweet woman. I do pick up the occasional treasure there, this time I found these following pieces.

First out, a lovely little pitcher in Brunette by Stavangerflint. It's bigger than a creamer, smaller than a jug, perfect for custard or some other dessert sauce. Of course, a little bouquet of wild flowers would look just perfect in it too! Brunette was designed by Kåre Berven Fjeldsaa in the 60s.

I was really thrilled to find two Stavangerflint "Mesterkokken" (Chef) dishes. The pattern was designed, silkscreened and handcolored by Inger Waage, and also came in blue. The design is from around the same time as "Bambus", as the same techniques were used. There was a tv-show made by BBC in 1961 that featured Inger Waage and her design "Mesterkokken", which means it was designed in 60 or 61, or maybe even the late 50s.

The pattern is a feast for the eye, so quirky and rich in detail. The colors are a combo I haven't really seen before, reddish brown, yellow and teal. They look great together. The blue version makes me think of the great dutch patterns used on Delft and the likes. I found two old pictures on the web, probably from Stavangerflint ads, of tables set with the two versions of the design. I must say those flower arrangements surpass mine by far!! That wooden backdrop is gorgeous, don't you think?

Not quite so quirky is this simple award- winning Hadeland "Multe" (cloudberry) bowl, designed by Willy Johansson in 1966. I really looks like it could have been designed today, doesn't it? I've found two larger bowls in this lovely smokey grey earlier. The design also comes in a deep emerald green.

 
Finally, a small Stavangerflint souvenir dish, handpainted by Inger Waage. It shows scenes from the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city which is known for it's picturesque city centre, surrounded by mountains.

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.

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!