Tag: Norwegian

Designer Desire: Tias Eckhoff

Montage of Tias Eckhoff designs

Tias Eckhoff (1926-2016) was a Norwegian industrial designer. Probably chiefly known for his cutlery, he also created furniture, crockery, cookware, glassware and door furniture.

He attended the Norwegian State College of Applied Arts and Crafts where he graduated with a degree in ceramic arts in 1949. Early in his career, he designed for Porsgrund for whom he produced the successful Det riflede ceramic range in 1949.

His cutlery designs include Una, Norstaal, Tiki and Maya for Stelton (previously Norsk Stålpress), Opus for Lundtofte and Cypress for Georg Jensen.

His work is in the permanent collections of institutions such as the V&A in London and Denver Art Museum.

Find examples of his designs for sale on Etsy and Pamono.

Portrait of Tias Eckhoff
credit

Additional image credits:
Bukowskis |

Designer Desire: Pentti Sarpaneva

Montage of Pentti Sarpaneva glass and metalware designs | H is for Home

This week, I planned to feature the jewellery designs of Pentti Sarpaneva in our Designer Desire slot. However, I’m also really taken by his glass and metal homeware items – so I’m going with those instead.

Pentti Sarpaneva’s designs – like many of his Norwegian compatriots – are very elemental and brutalist. He uses brass, bronze, silver, gold, amber coloured glass, enamel and semi-precious stones such as agate, amethyst, obsidian and spectrolite.

He designed for Turun Hopea Oy and Kalevala Koru and the Kumela glass factory. You can find examples of his jewellery and homewares on eBay and Etsy.

Sarpaneva (1925-78) is the older brother of the more well-known designer, Timo.

Portrait of Pentti Sarpaneva with his mother and brother, TimoPortrait of Pentti Sarpaneva (left) with his mother and brother, Timo (credit)

Additional image credits:

Bukowskis | Designlasi

Designer Desire: Unn Tangerud

Montage of jewellery designs by Unn Tangerud | H is for Home

I’ve received, as a Christmas present from Justin this year, another beautiful specimen to add to my Scandinavian jewellery collection. It’s entitled, ‘Snow Crystal’, and was designed by Unn Tangerud. It can be seen (second row, on the right) in the montage of images above.

Unn Tangerud (b. 1933) spent many years working for Uni David-Andersen, the 4th generation of the David-Andersen jewellery-making family. It was in 1964, while she was working for David-Andersen, that she designed Snow Crystal part of the company’s Troll Series. Also in this series, she designed Unn’s Sun Chariot (second row from the bottom, both left & right).

She worked primarily in silver and bronze using semi-precious stones such as tiger’s eye, amazonite and mylonite. The beautiful mottled pink cabochon stone in my pendant is thulite. The stone was first discovered in 1820 in Sauland, a village in Telemark, Norway. It’s only found in a handful of other locations in the world.

There are a few examples of her jewellery for sale online; check Etsy and eBay.

Image credits:

Bukowskis | Worthpoint

Designer Desire: Astri Holthe

Montage of Astri Holthe jewellery designs | H is for Home

When last have we featured some vintage Scandi jewellery here on our blog? It’s been too long! It must be something in the water up there – Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark have produced so many outstanding jewellery designers and Astri Holthe is one to include in that assemblage.

Astri Holthe (1917-1998) was a mid-century Norwegian designer-maker specialising in metal. In 1949, she and her husband, Gerhard, founded what would become a very successful factory near the Norwegian town of Arendal in the Barbu valley. Twenty years later, their factory had 90-100 employees.

Many of Holthe’s designs are made of pewter, therefore pieces are very affordable. Vintage pendants can be had for under the £50 mark. You can regularly find examples for sale on eBay and Etsy.

Portrait of Astri Holthecredit

Additional image credits:

Etsy | Pinterest