Bjorn Wiinblad, Denby - New eBay listings

I've listed about 20 items in my eBay store over the past few days, including these pieces of Bjorn Wiinblad's - 4 seasons bowls. If you are new to this Blog and want to find out more about Bjorn Wiinblad go to my Blog Post of July1 - Blog listings are in the colum on the left hand side towards the bottom.
I have also put up for auction a Denby Arabesque butter dish, which is quite rare I believe...It will be interesting to see how it goes.

This week at the AUCTIONS

Here is a selection of some of the pieces I bought this week at Auction. Another nice selection of good quality, and out of the ordinary pottery.

• Czech Ewer shaped vase. Love the colours and textures of these Czech pieces.
• Czech decorative jug, as I mentioned last week I've never come across Retro Czech vases before and I really like them. Verging on over-the-top, but in the right setting, look stunning.
• Australian Studio Pottery - Roger Kleining - nice crackle ware piece - looks to be about from the 1990's
• A 10 person stoneware tea set by NISSEN of Denmark, this pattern is called CORDELIA or "CORDIAL" (in English). I love the texture and grey tonings of this set. Soholm made a very similar one. I think late 1970's or early 1980's.

ROYAL COPENHAGEN, Quaking Grass, Pattern number 884

Thorkild Ohlsen (1890-1973) was a Danish landscape painter and porcelain designer who produced a number of significant porcelain dinner services for Royal Copenhagen beginning in the early 1930's. When designing Quaking Grass,  (pattern number 884) Ohlsen developed beautiful and subtle porcelain forms with elegant lines, perfect proportions and simple, Art Nouveau and Oriental-inspired, hand-painted botanical elements in patterns that are timeless and elegant.
'Quaking Grass' was produced from the early-30's until approximately 1960, showing that it did not go 'out-of-style', as so many china patterns did with the changes in taste after World War II.

Quaking Grass derives it name from an early-19th century botanical illustration of the 'Doxia' plant, more-commonly known as 'Quaking Grass'. This plant is common in the Scandinavian region, and is highly-regarded for its golden 'Japanese Lantern'-style seed pods that hang from long stems that 'quake' with the slightest breeze, giving each plant a charming quality that makes a field of Doxia 'dance' with lively energy.

Ohlsen has captured the delicacy and movement of this beautiful plant, in beautifully and delicately rendered leaves and stems of sage green, surmounted by seed pods rendered in gold. Each spray of Doxia is slightly different, demonstrating the skill of the painters of this ware.This work was produced by painters who also painted the famous Danish botanical paintings on the illustrious 'Flora Danica' porcelain service produced by Royal Copenhagen

The botanical motif is restricted to small central areas and sides of the individual plates and serving pieces, allowing the beautiful color of the porcelain 'paste' to serve as the primary 'decorative' element. The overall effect combines Naturalism with Neo-Classical and Modernist elements, in elegant forms that are simultaneously 'formal' and 'relaxed', in great Scandinavian fashion.

'Quaking Grass' was primarily sold in Europe and the United Kingdom, and was extremely-expensive when new, with a full dinner service for 14 with serving pieces selling for nearly $5,000 in the Late-1950's--an astronomical sum at a time when a service for 12 of Noritake, sold for around $150.00!

Quaking grass can still be found from online replacments stores like this one.

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Bjorn Wiinblad, Nymolle

I have noticed that a lot of people have been coming to my store in search of Bjorn Wiinblad, so I thought I had better get a move on and start listing some. I have listed 2 different pieces to start, and as each piece sells I will replace them with more Bjorn Wiinblad stock. I think I have about 30 pieces in total. If you are looking for anything in particular contact me to see if I have it. 

If this is your first visit to my blog, have the look at the previous Bjorn Wiinblad posting on the "Blog Archive" bottom left hand side of this page.

eBay Trends in My Store

The words RETRO, DANISH are always in the top 10 words used in search engines to reach my eBay store, and RETRO is in eBay (PULSE (trending)) at number 2, and VASE is at number 7 of most searched for pottery/glass items.
I love DANISH pottery, especially that from the mid 1950's to the mid 1970's, as do a lot of other people obviously. I think it is because of the great use of colour, the stoneware feel of many pieces and the freedom of much of the design.
The images below are some of my favourite pieces listed in the store this weekend matching either RETRO, DANISH, or VASE. Stoneware plaques (RETRO of course) always seem to do well, but they are getting really hard to find...and when they do come up at Auction lately they go for 4 times what they did a year ago.

A few more eBay listings

Here are a few more of the items Im posting on ebay today.
I love the pattern of the Arthur Wood Coffee Pot - its such a classic. I have a blog post ready to go on the Royal Copenhagen "Quaking Grass" series, just need to take a few more shots before I post it.
Let me know if these photos are too big in your browsers, Im having trouble with the blog editor currently and can only post extra-large photos successfully! and cant edit once they are posted!



Bing and Grondahl, Crackleware Vase, 1950's



West German Vase 1970's



"Quaking Grass" pattern, Royal Copenhagen, Demitasse Cup 1956

Arthur Wood U.K. - Coffee Pot cicra 1960



New EBAY store listings at Crafted by Design

Ive just listed a number of interesting items on eBay in my store. Check them out here for starting prices, full descriptions and so on.  The Arabia cheese dome is really great, and I just love the Czech "Fungus" bowl/vase - quite bizarre!.  There are a few nice West German retro vases too - I was lucky enough to get a whole box of them a few months ago -
they're getting harder to get hold of these days.                               


Arabia Cheese Dome c Board





West German Vase

West German Lava Vase





Pair of retro HOLMEGAARD Candle holders





Bizzare Czech "Fungus" Vase



This week at the AUCTIONS

It was a bit of a quiet day yesterday as far as auctions go, but I managed to get 3 nice mid-century pieces from my local Auction House.

• A very tall Italian stoneware lamp base, quite an impressive piece in lovely condition.
• A nice shaped West German vase - haven't come across one with a floral motif before
• & A hand painted Norwegian stoneware plate, signed and dated 1947. An interesting piece in good condition

Unfortunately I missed out on one a lot (below) I was really keen on, but gave up bidding after $250.00 - It ended up going for over $340. It was a Midwinter Stylecraft design by Jessie Tait in excellent condition. I wasn't so sure about the colour though - yellow can be hard to sell sometimes.

Retro Ceramic piece of the week - Week 7

Bjorn Wiinblad,

Studio Linie Porcelain,

Rosenthal,

Germany, 1980's

The father of Studio Pottery - BERNARD LEACH

A fascinating original, and must see film clip on BERNARD LEACH, the father of Studio Pottery as we know it today. The first few minutes you can also see SHOJI HAMADA working on a lovely large bowl.
OH to own a piece of Bernard Leach today!

Noritake Retro Bling - Gold Coffee Service c1947

I've just returned from holidays, and now in the process of unpacking, sorting, and photographing  items I have bought at auction over the weeks preceding my vacation. I have a lot of Danish Stoneware which I really like, and is always popular - including some great brown and orange gear from Michael Anderssen Studios in the 1970's.

One of the lots I purchased at auction was a Gold plated Noritake Coffee Service from about 1947. Amazingly this is the second one I have bought this year - the first one sold in about 1 hour from listing - but this one I might keep for a while to see if any more pieces belonging to it come up for sale anywhere.

I'm not normally a lover of "bling" or highly decorative ceramics, but this has such beautifully designed forms, and the gold plating is of such high quality I had to buy it. It is also in near perfect condition, which is always a bonus.

Retro Ceramic piece of the week - Week 6

Alumina - (Royal Copenhagen)
Fajance Bowl, Handpainted
Kari Christensen
1970's

Retro Ceramic piece of the week - week 5

Australian Studio Pottery
Teapot circa 1980's, Adelaide
Potter Unkown

Bjorn Wiinblad 1918-2006

Bjorn Wiinblad was a Danish painter, designer and artist worked in ceramics, silver, bronze, textiles, and graphics. What attracts me to his work is his wonderful use of simple line drawing, and later colour - combined with the whimsical nature of his work which is always makes you smile.  Bjorn Wiinblad's work is unlike any other, and he is often referred to as one of the "Supterstar Designers" of the 20th Century.

Probably his most sought after work is that from his time at Nymolle, a Danish pottery, where he began working in 1946. At Nymolle Wiinblad produced the finest pen drawings that were transferred to production as intaglio printing, usually in a single colour. Black, and a Iron Red, and Blue are the most common from this period. Wiinblad himself often considered his work at Nymolle is "bread and butter" work.

CANDLESTICK Bjorn Wiinblad Design for Nymolle "Summer Fruit

DISHES Set of Four Bjorn Wiinblad for Nymolle "Summer Autumn,, Winter, Spring" 10cm diameter

DISH Bjorn Wiinblad Design for Nymolle 3029/1285 Diameter: 23cm

WALL PLAQUE - Bjorn Wiinbald "Gwendolen Fairfax" 

( A Main character in Oscar Wilde's "The importance of being Ernest")

TEA BEAKER & SAUCER   "L' Opera - Aida"- Bjorn Wiinblad for Nymolle

Bjorn Wiinblad, Candlestick Holder for Nymolle

Bjorn Wiinblad's expression is highly personal, often with a touch of Oriental inspiration as underlying tone of the works. Wiinblad's vocation was to create design that make everyday life a little prettier, a little more inspiring, more fun and often much more colorful

His work from 1960’s to 1980’s in his own studio often featured whimsical faced people, dressed in bizarre costume, sometimes with natural elements: twining vines, floral wreaths, and trees., Much of it consisted of hand made figures, candlesticks, and jars and vases with faces, often limited to blue hand painted detail.

CANDLESTICK Bjorn Wiinblad, Decorated with Hand Painted Bird a Top a Tree Height: 27.5cm, Signed

His later work for Rosenthal (Germany) from 1957was often colour saturated and sometimes almost psychedelic, and a supplemented gold or silver colours. His most popular dinnerware design, Romance (Romanze) typically had an incredibly detailed decoration.

Below: Part of Tea Set by Bjorn Wiinblad for Studio Linie - Rosenthal - Germany

Museums the world over have Wiinblad's work in their collections - the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Stockholm's National Museum. He also designed the large Scheherazade tapestry for the Dallas World Trade Centre.

Above: WALL PLATE

Bjorn Wiinblad for Rosenthal 'Studio Linie'

'Weihnactsteller' 1977

In Original Box Depth: 28.5cm

Limited edition of 2,000.