Odin and Tor

We just got the Odin - now we just need Frøya! These are carved by Henning of Norway. The Tor is older and has a much rougher carving style, which I like. The base of it is marked with two stamps that read "Carved by hand in Norway". The newer Odin is marked "Henning Carved by hand in Norway".

Two New Vikings

Two Vikings that I recently found. One by Rolf Berg, the other is Nittsjö.

Lisa Larson Cat

A new addition to our growing collection of Lisa Larson cats.

Stogo Viking

This was an impulsive eBay buy - I didn't know anything about Stogo, but thought he was pretty fun. He looks like he would be a bobble-head, but the head is fixed to the base. A few quick googles showed that Stogo made a lot of dish ware in the 1960s. The bottom is marked with the company name an Denmark.

Arne Ingdam Bear

This big Arne Ingdam bear arrived in the mail today to join its smaller friend.

Arne Ingdam was born in 1922 and trained at Royal Copenhagen under Knud Kyhn, but produced work from his own workshop in Rågeleje, Nordsjælland and sold most of his work through the Magasin du Nord department stores.

Lisa Larson Fox

Look at this cute little guy!  A Lisa Larson fox from her Lilla Zoo line.  The bottom has the Lisa Larson sticker, Gustavsberg sticker, and a mystery sticker that's probably just from the store where it was sold, or maybe from a previous owner.

Lisa Larson Lillskansen Fox

A little fox we found at an antique store.  Designed by Lisa Larson for Gustavsberg and part of the Lillskansen line - this one is marked with the number 4 on the bottom and is the smaller of the two foxes. The Lillskansen line was introduced in 1978.

Lisa Larson Cat

One of the cats designed by Lisa Larson for Gustavsberg in Sweden.  There is quite a bit of variation on these cats, and sometimes it can be a challenge to find one with a cute face - I think we did alright with this one...

Knud Kyhn Bears

Three bears designed by Knud Kyhn and made by Royal Copenhagen.  The numbers on the bottom are 21432, 21433, and (I think) 21435.

Knud Basse Ferret

We won this on from a Canadian on eBay the day before the postal strike started, so it took quite a while to get here.  It's pretty cute, though, so worth the wait!  Designed by Knud Basse.

Arne Ingdam Bear

A cute little bear by Arne Ingdam of Denmark.  The glaze on this is particularly nice, with lots of mottling to give it the natural look of fur.  Based on information I found online (although I don't know the original source to verify it...), Ingdam was born in 1922 and trained at Royal Copenhagen under Knud Kyhn, but produced work from his own workshop in Rågeleje, Nordsjælland and sold most of his work through the Magasin du Nord department stores.

Knud Basse Kiwi

A little kiwi bird by Knud Basse of Denmark, possibly produced by Palshus.

Pelle with Cat

By Lisa Larson.  We love the cat because he looks just like our Monty.

Richard Lindh Bear

Made by Arabia of Finland.  I love the textured glaze on this!

Danish Cat

I don't know anything about this, other than it is from Denmark and I thought it was cute on eBay.  It's also tiny - about 3.5 inches tall and very thin.  The bottom is marked "Denmark" and also has an "O" with a line through it.

Upsala Ekeby Vikings

I just recently got the large Upsala Ekeby Viking by Taisto Kaasinen to go with his smaller friend.

Bing and Grondahl Marsvin

This is one of the porcelain figures that my grandma gave me at Easter when I was younger.  It is a guinea pig (marsvin) by Bing and Grøndahl.  The bottom is marked with the logo, shape number (2490), and the initials TR.   Based on the logo, this was made between 1970 and 1983.  In addition, the clay has some incised letters that look like K and the pi symbol (π).

Lisa Larson Cat

Monty is curious about this new Lisa Larson cat that looks just like him.

Rolf Berg Tomte and Horse

Taken with my Diana 120-mm camera.

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.