Tag: Scandinavian pottery

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: 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: Tapio Wirkkala

Montage of Tapio Wirkkala designs

Tapio Wirkkala (1915-1985) was a Finnish multidisciplinary designer; he created an abundance of objects in metal, glass, wood and ceramics. His output ranged from jewellery to furniture, barware to serveware and lighting to sculpture. His designs can even be found on the country’s money, having won the Bank of Finland’s banknote competition in 1947.

After serving in the Finnish Army during WWII, Tapio Wirkkala went to work for glassware firm, Iittala; a working relationship that would last the rest of his life. I especially like his organic, hand-blown Kantarelli (Finnish for ‘chanterelle mushroom’) vases. From the mid-1960s he designed glassware for Italian firm, Venini, based in Murano.

He created ceramics for companies including Rosenthal for whom he produced the Pollo vase and the Composition Secunda Grey, Variation and Eisblume series.

Because of his prolific output and lengthy career, his vintage designs are pretty easy to come by – albeit not always cheaply. Explore sites such as Etsy, Pamono and Vinterior.

Some of his ranges such as the Tapio drinking glasses for Iittala and Bolle bottle vases (shown at top) for Venini are still in production today.

Portrait of Tapio Wirkkalacredit

Additional image credits:
1stDibs | Bukowskis

Designer Desire: Noomi Backhausen

Montage of Noomi Backhausen pottery designs

Noomi Backhausen (1938-2011) worked at Söholm Keramik located in Rønne on the island of Bornholm, Denmark from 1966 until it closed down in 1990. While there, she created designs that decorated pieces by Paul Brandborg. In 1996, she founded her own pottery, also in Rønne.

Examples of her work – including wall plaques, vases, teapots, wall sconces and lamp bases – are readily available from Etsy, eBay, 1stDibs and Pamono.

Portrait of Noomi Backhausen
credit