Pieces of teak, glass and pottery

This weekend has been one of the really great ones. The weather has been sunny and warm, allowing us to have all meals out on the terrace. I love that. I didn't think I'd be doing much thrifting, but I squeezed in a small stop on my way home from work on friday, and a small trip late this afternoon. I found some stuff that I don't usually find, which was very exciting. At the local salvation Army store on friday, I found another Ultima Thule tumbler (for information, look here). I collect them, and really hope they keep turning up.

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There was also another Kosta Boda snowball votive holder, designed by Ann Wärff in 1973. I found two last week, so there's now a trio.

More glass, I found three small smoky grey Hadeland Fersken (peach) dishes, an award winning design by Willy Johansson in 1956. I guess they were originally designed as individual butter dishes, but I can also imagine they'll be great for soy or ponzu sauce for sushi.

I found this Figgjo Market piece designed by Turi Gramstad Oliver. Market is a rare find over here. A quick search on the web reveals where they all are... (rather large continent to the west:-) I have this one and a lidded serving dish. Unfortuneately, the lid was repaired with glue after having been broken, as is often the case with these. The lids are heavy and fall off very easily. I guess it will get a new life as a small planter in my kitchen in the company of two siblings, Folklore and August. You gotta love those quirky market scenes with all the glorious detail! The butter boxes were designed for what used to be the exact shape of a package of 500 grams of margarine here in Norway. That was later changed into a more rectangular shape, and consequently, Figgjo started making the lower rectangular butter boxes, like my Folklore one below (More Folklore here and here). 

 

 

 
Also, waiting for me when I came home on friday, was a package containing a four ring Festivo for my new collection, a bargain on Etsy. I now have three!!

Saturday was spent in the garden, doing a little bit of grooming. Today, my husband left early for New York, the kids were off with friends and I felt like a bit of thrifting:-) For a long time I've been curious about a lady who regularly has ads on Finn (the norwegian equivalent to Craigslist). She lives a 40 minute drive away from me, and I decided it was time to pay her a visit. She sells all kinds of retro pieces, and has an impressive glass collection. She has a room she calls the "retro room", which is covered in teak shelving full of treasures. She uses what she earns from her sales to restore her beautiful art nouveau house from 1906, and who wouldn't want to sponsor such a noble deed? I hope she doesn't mind me publishing a photo. Her current project is to restore the windows. I have to admit, the house itself was half the purpose of my trip. I love art nouveau, both my own home town and my mother's (Ålesund) has a lot of it, and I think I really fell in love when I lived in Brussels at the age of 15- 16 and visited Victor Horta's house. For you foreign guys, this is what our wooden art nouveau houses looks like. Isn't it beautiful?

I could have bought pretty much everything she had on display, but I really needed to restrain myself. A few goodies came along, though, and I will definitely be going back! The first things I fell for are these wonderful salt and pepper shakers and the salad servers and spoon in steel and teak. I'm not sure who designed the salt and pepper set, but they're most probably danish. They're large and heavy, and I will give them a light sanding and coat of oil to bring out that beautiful lustre. The salad servers and spoon are so incredibly elegant. I've seen them before on the web and have been hoping to find them one day. I know for sure they're norwegian, and I think they're designed by Thor Bjørklund who invented and patented the typical norwegian cheese slicer in 1925. I'll have to see if I can find out some more.

Next pieces I found are two Hadeland Multe bowls, also in one of my favorite glass colors, smoky grey. The Multe (cloudberry) series was designed by Willy Johansson in 1966, and was awarded "Merket for god design". I'm not sure how to translate that, but it's an award where both form and functionality is taken into consideration, given by the norwegian design counsil. They're so beautiful and simple, and I've been looking for one of these to fit the "upper deck" of my Digsmed lazy susan. It has small bowls in the same color and room for a bigger bowl on the upper level. I don't think there was one originally. 

The sweet lady had an impressive glass collection. It was hard to decide what to pick out, but what I couldn't leave behind were these modernist owls by norwegian artist Benny Motzfeldt (1909- 95). She was an amazing glass artist with a large and varied production. Aren't they gorgeous? They're not large, but very heavy, and will work as paper weights or just great sculptures.

The next piece I got was such a thrill to find. I've never seen Kronjyden Relief in thrift stores over here, so this is my first piece, a candle holder, hopefully there will be another one to join it. I love the color and the pattern, and totally agree with Birgitte, over at The Little Black House, that it resembles a danish (or norwegian for that sake) cornfield rather than something assosialted with leaves. "Relief" was designed by Jens H. Quistgaard in 1959-60.

After leaving the beautiful art nouveau home of the sweet icelandic lady, I made a quick stop at an antiques barn. They mainly have older pieces, but look what I found! A Figgjo Tor Viking lidded serving dish! It reminds me so much of growing up, we used to have this at home.Apart from this piece, I now have four small plates, two egg cups and a creamer and sugar bowl that was my mom and dad's.

 

A few kitchen snaps... and a couple of thrifts!

Yay- finally all the boxes are empty and all my things have found their places in my new kitchen. And my conclusion is- there is leftover space for new thrifts! I'm not sure if that's my husband's conclusion, though...
So this is how it looks like now. I'm so pleased with the large wall of cupboards where the fridge, microwave, freezer and other kitchen machinery is hidden behind gorgeous teak. My ceiling lamp is back in place. I had set my eyes on a new black one, but we needed some instant light, and when the old one was up, it didn't look half bad. I think I'll hang on to it for a while longer.

 

I got a new String shelf up to display some vintage treasures. Sadly, they don't come in teak anymore, but walnut looks very close after having been exposed to sunlight for a while. The number 7 chair in the image above was originally the darkest greyish brown walnut, now the color is almost exactly the same as the teak cabinets behind it. 

Ok, I still have kids who spill stuff from time to time, hence the tablecloth... There's teak underneath it. I dream of a Carrara marble top tulip table... This is the table where everything takes place, meals, homework and hobbies. Now you can see where the Wiinblad wall plaques went! I'm balancing them with some black and more rustic pieces, as they tend to look a bit cute. I've always been scared of "cute". As a child, I hated pink. A bit on the dark and gloomy side already then...

I did a little bit of thrifting this weekend, though I was sooo disappointed when two of my favorite stores were closed... I did however do a couple of bargains. I found the Stelton creamer and sugar bowl set to go with my coffee pot. We got the pot almost 20 years ago. It was designed by Erik Magnussen in 1977, and is still a best seller all over Scandinavia, and I'm sure pretty much everywhere else too. I've always loved Stelton for the simplicity and sharp lines. Their designs are both modern and timeless.

In this corner are also the Muuto salt and pepper grinders that I got from my sister, a tray and cutting board from Formverket and a vintage teak cheeseboard. Instead of letting the switches and plugs blend in with the walls, I chose to go the opposite way and let them go with the black theme.

 

I also found a small Stavangerflint Sera dish, designed by Inger Waage. It's small, only 15 cm long, perfect for small biscuits or chocolates. This pattern is so shiny, it's a bit hard to photograph. I tend to fall for black and brown things, and this combines both! How great is the Stelton strictness paired with that gorgeous Sera pattern?

 

 

I was so happy to find the West German "little brother" of a planter from a previous thrift haul, with a pattern from the 70s (I think! Correct me if anyone knows for sure!) that I REALLY love. It's quite small, so I guess it will be a challenge to find a plastic pot that fits inside it...

 

 

I also found a large Arabia Teema salad bowl in a rich chocolate brown. The Teema range is also one of those great simple designs that never really dates. Designed by Heikki Orvola and Kaj Franck in 1952, it's still looking very clean and modern.

  

Finally, a real treasure! We got this from my mother in law recently, it's the plate my husband used daily as a child. It's one of those great children's sets from the 60s, and I think this pattern is SO cute. It's "Venner" (Friends) from Stavangerflint, designed by Gro Pedersen Claussen. I haven't been able to find the exact year it was designed, but it must have been some time during the 60s. My childhood sets are still in my parent's house. They're also Stavangerflint from the 60s in a different design, I'll show you some time!

How very original...

All you thrifters and collectors of Figgjo and other mid- century brands out there probably have it, but it still is gorgeous, isn't it? The Market pattern by Turid Gramstad Oliver is one of my favourite Figgjo designs. I love the colors and the pattern, little market stalls selling fish, flowers and vegs. The men and women are beautifully detailed. This covered dish is surprisingly small for a dinner set, but makes a great centerpiece on my dinner table.