P is for… Per Lütken

We’ve just realised that it’s been almost a year since our last Alphabet blog post!! Where does time go?

Anyway, we’ll get back on our metaphorical alphabet bike and resume where we left off. The last post in this series was O is for… Owl. So today it’s P – and ‘P’ is for… Per. Per Lütken to be precise.

_{photo credit: 20th Century Forum}

Per Lütken is one of the great names in Scandinavian glass. He assumed the role of art director & chief designer at Holmegaard Glasværk in 1946.

_{photo credit: Retropolitan}

He introduced lovely soft colours and free flowing organic forms to the company’s output in the 1950s – ‘Provence’ bowls & ‘Beak’ vases being classic pieces from this period. The iconic ‘Aristocrat’ decanter is also much sought after by mid century modern fans. The 1960s saw experimentation with clear & coloured glass to achieve eye-catching, swirling designs. Towards the end of the decade he introduced his innovative ‘Lava’ glassware which retained impurities to give an earthy, rustic look. The 1970s saw Lütken produce one-off glass sculptures along with further mass produced ranges such as the Vintergaek series which incorporated opaline glass into a clear glass body. He continued to design, develop, guide, influence & innovate at Holmegaard until his death in the 1990s.

_{photo credit: austrohungaro, Collectors Weekly}

There are some must-visit sites on the net for reference guides to Scandinavian glass – 20th Century Glass, 20th Century Forum and Collectors Weekly.

_{photo credit: austrohungaro, Collectors Weekly}

Here’s a selection of books on Scandinavian art glass that we recommend:

We often have plenty of Scandinavian art glass available in our shop. We have one lovely example of Per Lütken’s work currently in stock. It’s the small, icy blue vase in our main picture. It has the great man’s signature etched to the base and the date year of 1958.

Forthcoming Attractions: Mid May 2012

"Forthcoming Attractions" blog post banner

Here’s a new batch of recent vintage finds – slightly more items than our last ‘Forthcoming Attractions’ post!

group of vintage kitchenalia items soon to be added to the H is for Home website including a wooden rolling pin with red handles, pottery mixing bowl with blue interior, pottery sifter made by Portmeirion and a metal swizzle stick with blue painted wooden handle

We’ll start with a few pieces for the kitchen. Quite a blue feel to the selection. These vintage mixing bowls often have cream interiors, but more rarely have these lovely coloured glazes in blue, orange or yellow. The utensil sitting inside the bowl is a drinks mixer or frother. The metal whisk end spins as you press the handle down – perfect for cocktails, hot chocolate etc.

detail from a group of vintage kitchenalia items soon to be added to the H is for Home website including a wooden rolling pin with red handles, pottery mixing bowl with blue interior, pottery sifter made by Portmeirion and a metal swizzle stick with blue painted wooden handle

The sugar or flour sifter is classic 1960s with its geometric pattern in sky blue & deep olive green. It’s from the ‘Tivoloi’ range produced by Portmeirion Pottery.

close up view of orange cased glass light shade produced by Holmgaard

This bowl could also find a good home in the kitchen, but has a thousand uses around the house. We often feature these pieces of colourful enamel produced by Cathrineholm of Norway – teapots, pans, bowls, ice buckets and more!

pair of vintage wooden items soon to be added to the H is for Home website - a wooden letter rack and set of wooden handled knives in a stand, pottery sifter made by Portmerion and a metal swizzle stick with blue painted wooden handle

Now for a bit of wood. The butter knife set is a great bit of Scandinavian design – sculptural and useful. It was produced by Karlsson & Nilsson of Sweden in the 1950s or 60s. We think the letter box is very sweet – it would give a lovely vintage touch to an office desk or hallway.

vintage 1950s wooden shopping list reminder board

Probably our favourite object this week is this 1960s shopping list board. It’s a humble object and quite a rare survivor being so simply constructed. It certainly has lots of charm.

detail from a vintage 1950s wooden shopping list reminder board

We love the graphics – wife doing a spot of homemaking, hubby out collecting the parcels!!

orange cased glass light shade produced by Holmgaard and a quantity of floral fabric in shades of orange

And finally, a bold flash of orange. The lampshade is a very good quality piece of cased glass – it was produced by Holmegaard of Denmark, in the 1960s or 70s. The fabric is from a similar era. We think it might have been produced by Crabtree Fabrics. It would make great cushion covers.

close up view of floral patterned fabric in shades of orange

Or perhaps even more perfect… curtains for a vintage camper van. One glimpse of these and you’d be in a happy, holiday frame of mind!

Out & about… January

December started with a cold snap… and January began in the same way.

Lots of snow, frost & ice about again.

Here, a barge has to break through icy water in Rochdale Canal.

We often come across these old baths while wandering around the local fields. How about this for al fresco living? It was about -3ºC on the day we saw these – tempted to take a dip anyone?

And what about this twin-tub arrangement?

We spent a week away in the Lake District in the middle of the month. Unfortunately, we got 7 solid days of mist & rain.

The area still manages to be beautiful even in the worst of weathers though.

We stayed in Elterwater and spent our time walking in the surrounding hills… and then drying off in front of fires in our cottage … or the Britannia, the local village pub.

Fudge was always waiting for his next walk… of which there were many!

We did break it up with a day’s shopping, spending a couple of hours in Windermere. We picked up a few things including these immaculate 1970s headphones and some Holmegaard glass candle holders.

We also stocked up on nice things to eat and drink at Booths. It’s a small chain of food stores in the North of England – and a firm favourite of ours.

Last week we spent a day taking photos in Manchester – we’ll be doing a blog in the near future about vintage shopping in the city – we’ll keep you posted!

H is for Home Harbinger

Tag: Holmegaard

P is for… Per Lütken

Forthcoming Attractions: Mid May 2012

Out & about… January