Tag: Denmark

Designer Desire: Marianne Starck

Selection of Marianne Starck ceramic designs

Marianne Starck (1938-2007) was a German-born ceramic designer best known for her work for Michael Andersen & Son (MA&S) which was located in Rønne on the island of Bornholm, Denmark. She was the the company’s art director from 1955 to 1993 at which point the business was sold to Solveig Ussing who had worked for the company since the age of fourteen.

Starck served her apprenticeship at Thoms Keramik in Brunsbüttel, Germany, and later studied graphic design in Germany at Landeskunstschule (University of Fine Arts, Hamburg).

She had many different styles during her long and productive career. My favourites are her designs with folk art type figures and the black & white (and sometimes red) Tribal range which she designed in the 1950s.

You can find many examples of her designs available for sale on eBay and Etsy.

Image credits:
1st Dibs | Lot Art

Designer Desire: Kurt Østervig

Montage of Kurt Østervig furniture designs

Furniture designer, Kurt Østervig (1912-1986) trained as a shipbuilder and naval architect in Odense, Denmark’s third largest city. He soon switched to furniture design, working in the studio of manufacturer E. Knudsen prior to founding his own studio in 1947.

Kurt Østervig worked as a freelance designer for the remainder of his long career, collaborating with a range of Scandinavian furniture companies during the mid 20th century; these included Bernh, Bramin, Brande Møbelindustri, Jason, Pedersen & Son, Rolschau, Schillers Polstermøbelfabrik, Sibast and Vamo.

Østervig’s designs were primarily manufactured using oak – sometimes with the addition of leather; however, some pieces were produced in rosewood and teak. Among Østervig’s most important and popular designs are the Model 12 Easy Chair & footstool for Schillers (1961; re-launched in 2014) and the Butterfly Dining Chair (1950s) for Brande (a set of six with turquoise upholstered seats are shown in the montage above).

Some of Østervig’s furniture designs continue to be manufactured to this day; visit the Finnish Design Shop.If you prefer vintage examples, try 1stDibs, eBay and Etsy.

Portrait of Kurt Østervig, furniture designercredit

Additional image credits:
Artnet

Designer Desire: Ege Rya

Montage of Ege Rya rug designs

Last week we took a look at Scandinavian rug designer, Ingegerd Silow; this week we’ll explore the genre a little further.

Ege Tæpper (Tæpper translates as ‘rug’ in Danish) was founded in 1938 in Herning, central Denmark by Mads Eg Damgaard. The company continues to produce carpet to this day. Although this series is entitled ‘Designer Desire’, Ege Rya wasn’t actually an individual designer, but a successful subsidiary of the company. During the 1960s & 70s, its machine-made, colourful, often groovy, patterned floor rugs in a range of sizes – in rectangular and circular shapes.

‘Rya’ is a traditional rug made of wool with a thick ‘shag pile’ finish. In Finland, this type of rug is known as Ryijy.

Some of the funky Ege Rya designs were entitled Ada Orange, Ballade 30, Serenade 90, Tronheim 10 and Route 66 (this last one is shown in two colourways at the top of the montage above). There were a number of ranges; including Boutique, DeLuxe and Polar.

We’ve found a few genuine Ege Rya and Ege Tæpper rugs currently for sale on 1stDibs, Etsy and Pamono.

There were a few other companies around the world who were manufacturing this kind of thick pile woollen rugs at the same time; These included Norden in England, Højer Eksport Wilton in Denmark, Hayim & Co in New York and Svängsta Slottsmatta in Sweden.

There’s a little more information to be found about Ege Rya on the Classic Modern website.

Image credits:
Etsy

Designer Desire: IRA Denmark

Montage of IRA Denmark metalware designs

Colourful vintage metalware is always a big seller on the H is for Home shop website. Worcesterware and Laurids Lønborg are the two main makers; however, IRA Denmark items are also very sought after.

IRA Denmark is the name of the company which was based in Copenhagen. Four of the main designers were Anita Wangel, Ethel von Horn, Arne Bentsen and Kamma Svensson. I can’t find out much about any of these individuals; there was a 2013 article in Scandinavian Retro magazine (shown at the top of the montage above), but my Swedish language knowledge is practically non-existent!

The only information that I have is that Ethel von Horn was Swedish, Arne Bentsen was Danish and Anita Wangel was Finnish. The eye-catching tins, coasters, bread bins etc were retailed through department stores and mail order across Scandinavia.

Find examples of IRA Denmark metalware on eBay and Etsy.

If you know anything further, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Image credits:
Pinterest | Scandinavian Retro