Tag: Scandinavian jewellery

Designer Desire: Roland Landerholm

Montage of Roland Landerholm jewellery designs

Here’s a selection of jewellery items designed by Roland Landerholm (1928-1993). He hailed from Sweden and began his career as a ceramic artist before branching out into tin and pewter jewellery.

I especially love his simple human an fishy figures, he returns to them time and again.

I couldn’t find out a great deal about Roland Landerholm online other than he was the creative force in the business he was in with two of his brothers.

You can get hold of one of his vintage pewter pendants for as little as £30.00; try looking on Etsy or eBay in the first instance.

Image credits:
Stockholm Retro

Auction Alert: Jewellery, Watches & Silver

Amethyst & aquamarine necklace

Regular readers will know that I have a thing for vintage Scandinavian jewellery and this week’s auction features a number of lots including a pretty cocktail ring designed by Niels Erik From. My favourite piece of jewellery in this auction is hands down the grasshopper brooch – it’s exquisite! Estimates on the items I’ve featured range from £80 to £6,000 – so there are options to suit every budget.

There are a total of 686 lots in this month’s Jewellery, Watches & Silver sale – almost half of which is given over to jewellery. The auction takes place on Saturday 18th September from 10am at Elstob and Elstob, based in Ripon, Yorkshire.

As ever, we only feature sales where prospective buyers are able to bid online. Please note, there’s a buyer’s premium of 22% (26.4% including vat) on top of the hammer price of each lot.

Absentee and live bids can be placed direct on the Elstob and Elstob website; if you use this method, there’s an additional 1.5% (plus vat) premium. Bidding on this sale is also available on The Saleroom, [where there’s an additional 4.95% (plus vat) surcharge]; Invaluable, [where there’s an additional 5% (plus vat) surcharge]; BidSquare, [where there’s an additional 3% (plus vat) surcharge]; Live Auctioneers, [where there’s an additional 5% (plus vat) surcharge]; Drouot Digital, [where there’s an additional 3% (plus vat) surcharge] and EasyLiveAuction, [where there’s an additional 3% (plus vat) surcharge or the option of a flat fee of £3].

Victorian banded agate jewellery

Lot 1436: A group of Victorian banded agate jewellery
Estimate: £1,000 – 1,500
Comprising: a necklace of slightly graduated beads, length 61.5cm; another bead necklace, length 43.5cm; a bracelet, of graduated oval links, length 19cm; a ring, ring size ‘N1/2’; and a stick pin, with a glazed locket back. (5)

Amethyst & aquamarine necklace

Lot 1487: A late Victorian amethyst and aquamarine fringe necklace
Estimate: £300 – 500
The front with graduated knife-edge drops set with oval-cut amethyst and pale aquamarine, to a fine belcher chain. Drop length 2cm-2.8cm, chain length 42.5cm, 13.0 grams

A late 19th century pearl, diamond and green garnet grasshopper brooch

Lot 1495: A late 19th century pearl, diamond and green garnet grasshopper brooch
Estimate: £4,000 – 6,000
Modelled upon an old-cut diamond set branch, the body set with a baroque pearl and green garnets and picked out with green enamel, total estimated diamond weight 0.50ct approximately. Measures 2.5cm by 3.5cm, 7.1 grams

Niels Erik From - a Danish silver smoky quartz dress ring

Lot 1635a: Niels Erik From – a Danish silver smoky quartz dress ring
Estimate: £80 – 120
A round-cut smoky quartz in a high claw setting to an angular shank, maker’s mark ‘from’, ‘925s’, ring size ‘K’

Matti J. Hyvärinen - a Finnish silver and amethyst ring

Lot 1641: Matti J. Hyvärinen – a Finnish silver and amethyst ring
Estimate: £80 – 120
The scrolling oval head with a textured finish and set with an amethyst sphere, to a crossover shank, maker’s mark ‘mjh’, Turku 1973, ring size ‘O’ (adaptable)

A pair of mid 20th century Scandinavian silver pendant earrings

Lot 1652: A pair of mid 20th century Scandinavian silver pendant earrings
Estimate: £200 – 300
Articulated openwork frames with a central pendant drop, marked ‘830’, with screw fittings. Length 8cm

Designer Desire: Kerstin Öhlin Lejonklou

Montage of Kerstin Öhlin Lejonklou jewellery designs

Kerstin Öhlin Lejonklou (b. 1937) has been creating beautiful jewellery in her own practice since 1963, the year she moved from the Drottningholm area of Stockholm to Östersund.

She attended Konstfack from 1956-61. When she was a child, her father had a model railway set up. She says:

If I was quiet, I had to sit on the workshop floor and play with screws, nuts and metal taps – it became my lego. When I look back, I realize that the metal has always felt right to me

She works primarily in silver and gold with precious & semi-precious stones such as diamonds, topaz, feldspar and amethyst.  She has won many scholarships, prizes and awards during her lengthy career including, in 2004, the Prince Eugene Medal for outstanding artistic activity.

In 2013, an exhibition was in Ahlbergshallen to celebrate and commemorate Lejonklou’s 50 years in the industry. Alongside, was published a book by Sanna Svedestedt, Kerstin Öhlin Lejonklou Silversmed. It’s available from Abe Books, Adlibris, Amazon.

Her works are in the collections of many prestigious museums and galleries including Goldsmith Hall, London, National Museum, Stockholm, Museum of Industrial Art, Copenhagen and Kunstindustrimuseet, Oslo.

Portrait of Kerstin Öhlin Lejonkloucredit

Additional image credits:
Artnet | National Museum | Nutida Svenskt Silver

Designer Desire: Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe

Montage of Portrait of Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe designs

Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe (1927-2004) was a Swedish metalsmith and jewellery designer. She worked primarily in silver with semi-precious stones such as amethyst, agate, labradorite, quartz, rock crystal, mother-of-pearl, abalone and other shells.

In 1951, Torun Bülow-Hübe became the first female silversmith in Sweden with her own workshop; she worked there until 1956, when she immigrated to France. She lived and designed in France for 12 years, meeting Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Henri Matisse. She left France, moving first to Germany and then to Indonesia. After her diagnosis with leukaemia in 2002, she moved to Denmark to be with her daughter.

In the mid 1950s, she began a lasting relationship with the Danish firm, Georg Jensen which continued up until her death in 2004. They continue to produce some of her designs including the ‘Vivianna’ wristwatch (shown in the montage above) which was first created in 1962.

Her work has been bought and worn by a string of celebrities; Brigitte Bardot, Ingrid Bergman, Billie Holiday, Pablo Picasso and Duke Ellington.

Torun Bülow-Hübe’s work can be found in the permanent collections of a number of international museums and galleries; MoMA in New York, the Swedish National Museum, Stockholm, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Montreal, the Louvre in Paris, the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in London and the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich.

In 1992, Torun was awarded the Prince Eugen medal by King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden. The medal is bestowed for outstanding artistic achievement.

Also in 1992, Georg Jensen in Copenhagen held an exhibition commemorating 25 years of Torun’s association with the company; 45 years of working with silver and her 65th birthday.

In addition, that year, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris held a retrospective of her work.

You can buy vintage examples of her designs on eBay and Etsy.

Portrait of Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübecredit

Additional image credits:
1st Dibs | Bukowskis