Sunday, November 28, 2010

Prillar-Guri


Another one of our bargain purchases at the day-after-Thanksgiving Scandinavian warehouse sale.  This is an older Henning carving from Norway.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Viking Invaders


Some of my Viking collection.  Most of them are by Rolf Berg from Sweden, and there are also Vikings by Maigon Daga, Upsala Ekeby, Lindshammar, and Lisa Larson.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Black Friday Finds

Our day-after-Thanksgiving shopping is much more low-key than the crazy 4:00 AM sales.  Since I was little (sometime in the 1970s), we have gone to a warehouse sale put on by a Scandinavian importer.  When it first started, their shop was in an old building near downtown, and the basement was filled with boxes of goods - Porsgrund, tomten, candles, straw ornaments - and I remember often being the only people there. They have since moved to larger buildings in the suburbs and their sales are attended by many more people.  The tradition lately has us starting at the warehouse sale, and then going to our local Scandinavian gift shop, Ingebretsen's, so look for anything else we might "need," and to see what kind of deals we got.  My grandma always used to buy little wood and fabric tomten to give to us kids, and every year I still buy one for myself in her memory.  Here's this year's:


And this is one of our impulse bargains.  A Porsgrund pitcher with the Freia chocolate company logo.  The date on the bottom looks like 1994.



Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Hand Made in Norway


Another mystery piece with markings similar to the Elle pottery pieces, this is a small square bowl on a pedestal base.


Sunday, November 21, 2010

Dining Room


On the plate rail - the Figgjo Saga plaque and two Stavangerflint Per Spelmann trivets.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Stavangerflint Souvenir Plates


Three souvenir Stavangerflint plates we have hanging in our kitchen.  I was surprised when I found plates for nearby areas that were made in Norway!

The Door County, Wisconsin and Minnesota plates are by Inger Waage.  The Red Wing, Minnesota plate is by Kari Nyquist.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Mystery Kjenge

I don't know who made this or how old it is.  One side of it says "Hilsen fra Lohals" ("Greetings from Lohals," which is in Denmark).  The bottom has the incised number 3467 and a symbol that looks like TP, or maybe just P. Any ideas?



Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Lisa Larson Viking Ship Plaque


This is a unique commemorative Viking ship plaque was produced by Gustavsberg in the late 1960s/early 1970s and created by Lisa Larson.  The top of the sail has "Handelsflottans Välfärdsråd" stamped in the clay, which roughly translates to "Merchant Navy Welfare Board."  The back has a sticker with the same text, the incised "Lisa L Gustavsberg" stamp, and a hand-written note: "Idrottsveckan för sjöfolk i Lissabon," which roughly translates to "Sports Week for Seafarers in Lisbon," with the dates April 12 - April 18, 1970.


Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Figgjo Clupea Soup Tureen

We have a few pieces of Clupea, including this soup tureen that we got for a steal.  The designer was Turi Gramstad Oliver.  Angela inspired this post - thanks! :)



Monday, November 15, 2010

Figgjo Saga Mugs

A few days ago I posted a Figgjo Saga Plaque that was only half of a larger scene.  I found the two complete scenes on a pair of mugs.  It's interesting that the silkscreen for the second scene is identical to the silkscreen for the plaque - Figgjo used the same glazing stencils and silkscreens on multiple shapes.  Lots of pictures today.





The second mug is below.  The only difference between the plaque and the mugs are the addition of the vertical rows of leaves by the handles.







Sunday, November 14, 2010

Stavangerflint Kari Plate


Stavangerflint plate designed by Kari Nyquist in her typical blue-hued glaze.  The Stavangerflint logo on the back has the mysterious hatch-mark at the 10:00 position.


Saturday, November 13, 2010

Pia Myrvold - November

My cousin in Stavanger gave us six wonderful Porsgrund cups and saucers with designs by Pia Myrvold.  This is the design for November - we have July through December, and each month is different.







Friday, November 12, 2010

Vikings


The little guy in the center is a viking by Rolf Berg of Sweden.  I don't know who made the wooden viking - I found it at a Scandinavian importer's warehouse sale.  The big viking was made by Maigons Daga in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Daga was a ceramic artist who primarily made animals and used very nice, organic glazes, which elevated his pieces to an artistic level.  Most of his pieces are mounted on a piece of stone or wood.  This is my first non-Scandinavian piece posted here - Daga was from Latvia and worked for a time in Adelaide, Australia before moving to Minneapolis in 1954 and opening his studio in 1970.  His distinctive style and glaze techniques are very at home with the works of other Scandinavian ceramicists, though.

The Rolf Berg viking is an early piece, as evident by the hand-incised RB on the base.  Daga signed almost all of his pieces with his last name written on the bottom of the stone (or wood) base, and also usually in the glaze on the bottom of the pottery pieces.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

FIggjo Flint Saga Plaque


There is a larger version of this plaque that includes this scene, but they're walking behind another scene of a bride and groom on a horse and a fiddle player.  This plaque is made like an inverted tray, with two hanging holes at the top, and the back is marked with the Figgjo Saga logos.


Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Stavangerflint Plate

The other antique shop find from the weekend is this Stavangerflint plate. I was very taken with the traditional design on it, something you don't often see on Stavangerflint pieces, which tend to have more typical mid-century designs.


The logo on the back has the mysterious mark, this one is a star at about the 8:00 position.  I don't know who the artist of this was.


Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Marianne Stark Tile


We found this at an antique store this weekend.  It's a tile made by the Michael Andersen and Son company in Rønne on the island of Bornholm, Denmark.  The designer was Marianne Starck, and it was probably made in the 1950s or 1960s.  The back is marked with stamps of Denmark and Bornholm, MS for the artist, a shape or piece number, and the logo of three herrings, which is the town of Rønne's coat of arms.