Posts Tagged ‘Jens Quistgaard’

S is for…

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

Essential for seasoning… they need storing, sprinkling, pinching, grinding and shaking. There are endless possibilities to enable all these things.

Starting with the traditional matching salt & pepper pots… they’re made from pottery, glass, metal, plastic and wood.

As these pots are often left on permanent display, it’s a great opportunity for showing off a bit of good design, striking pattern or flash of colour. These gorgeous Cathrineholm examples manage to combine all three…

We also like pinch pots – they’re great for salt crystals or flakes – and coarse, ground pepper.

We keep these John Clappison-designed Hornsea pinch pots in our kitchen table. They were originally intended as ashtrays, but are the perfect size & shape for this alternative use.

Larger pinch pots & salt pigs are great for keeping beside the stove for everyday cooking use.

These wooden pinch pots are actually antique cheese moulds – again they’re ideal for their new function.

A salt pig is one of the best containers to keep by the cooker as it allows for a good scoop or handful when adding to boiling water for pasta, rice, vegetables etc.

If you prefer your salt in a sealed container there are lots of options here too!

And finally grinders… these make light work of salt crystals & whole peppercorns – releasing aromas and flavours right at the point of serving.

The undoubted master of the grinder is designer Jens Quistgaard, with his numerous examples produced for Dansk Designs. There is, in fact, a book available entirely dedicated to the subject – Danish Pepper: Jens Quistgaard’s Teak Pepper Mills (Amazon USA)

As you can see from the cover, their sculptural forms and beautiful grain makes for a stunning grouping. We’ve just decided that we may have to start a collection of our own!!

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J is for…

Friday, June 6th, 2008

J is for banner

Composite image of Flickr images of Quistaard designs

1. collection of pepper grinders, 2. Vintage Scandinavian enamelware, 3. Dansk Pot – $2.25, 4. Paella Pan, 5. Dansk Grinders & Shakers, 6. Mostly vintage Finel , 7. My collection of vintage enamel pots from Scandinavia, 8. Dansk – Kobenstyle – Quistgaard, 9. quistgaard pepper mill, 10. Kobenstyle Pot, 11. Untitled, 12. Vintage pots, 13. Jens Quistgaard Bead candleholders, 14. salt & pepper grinders 15. grandmother’s dansk, 16. Vintage Dansk LTD IHQ QUISTGAARD Danish Modern Mid Century Modernism Candle Tiny Taper Holder, 17. danish pitcher, 18. pepper grinder, 19. red dansk kobenstyle stock pot, 20. kobenstyle score

Danish-born Jens Quistgaard was one of Scandinavia’s leading designers with a vast product range that included furniture, kitchen equipment, tableware and more.

He is most closely associated with Dansk International Designs, a company which he co-founded with American entrepreneur Ted Nierenberg.

Their partnership lasted for 30 years, Quistgaard being responsible for the majority of designs produced.

He worked in a variety of materials including iron, steel, ceramic and wood. It is wood, and in particular teak, which most often springs to mind when Jens Quistgaard is mentioned. Classic pieces such as his teak ice bucket, designed in 1960.

Quistgaard teak ice bucket

Also, the Fjord cutlery range designed in 1953, this time teak combined with stainless steel.

Quistgaard 'Fjord' cutlery set

There are plenty of pieces in other materials that are worth looking out for.

We love these vibrantly coloured, enamel cooking pots from the Kobenstyle range of 1954.

Orange Quistgaard 'Kobenstyle' casserole dish

His cast iron candle holders from 1955 combine sculptural shapes with a distinctive industrial quality.

Quistgaard cast iron candle holder Quistgaard cast iron candle holder

Sadly, he passed away this January at the age of 88. However, he left a wonderful legacy which lives on in his designs.

We often have Quistgaard pieces available at H is for Home- just run a word search for Jens or Dansk.

Dansk tea light holders Dansk tea light holders

For more information about Jens Quistgaard and Dansk Designs, try some of the following books & websites:

Scandinavian Design by Charlotte & Peter Fiell (Amazon USA)


Scandinavian Design by Charlotte & Peter Fiell (Amazon UK)

Architonic – Feature of a selection of Jens Quistgaard products

DesignAddict – Feature of a selection of Jens Quistgaard products

New York Times – Jens Quistgaard obituary

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