Tag: vintage ceramics

Designer Desire: Joan Carrillo Romero

Montage of Joan Carrillo ceramics

Joan Carrillo Romero was unknown to us until a couple of weeks ago when a vase of his was available at an auction we featured here on our blog.

Carrillo (b. 1948) is a ceramic artist who creates the most beautiful pottery items, especially vases. He hails from Campillos in Malaga, southern Spain. He studied drawing, painting and engraving at the School of Fine Arts in Olot, Girona. After graduating, his career began with a year working at the workshop of the capuchin Marià Vayreda. The following year – 1969 – he moved on to the workshop of the Serra brothers in Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona.

In 1971, he set up his own workshop in the farmhouse where he lived in Riudaura, Girona. At the end of that decade, he co-founded the Cooperativa de Ceramistas Coure in Olot.

He has exhibited his work across Europe and in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.

On the odd occasion, vintage Joan Carrillo pieces become available for sale at auction and on eBay and Etsy.

Portrait of ceramicist, Joan Carrillocredit

Additional image credits:
1st Dibs | Incollect | Ledondufel | Pamono

Designer Desire: Sarah Partridge

Montage of Sarah Partridge ceramic pieces

Sarah Partridge is a ceramic artist who moved to West Wales in 2017. She makes wonderful, organic pots and pieces. I especially love her lifelike conkers.

Sarah explains on her own website:

My work is sculptural and explores natural forms, where I am inspired by patterns and textures found in nature and landscapes.

Unfortunately, she hasn’t updated her website or social media accounts in a long time, so we don’t have any images of her recent work or news about the pottery workshops she runs.

Portrait of ceramic artist, Sarah Partridgecredit

All images © Sarah Partridge

Designer Desire: Roland Zobel

Montage of Roland Zobel ceramic artworks | H is for Home

Roland Zobel (died 2006) was a mid-century ceramic artist. His most well-known work is the Les Cyclades range from the 1950s, a few of which are featured above.

I couldn’t find anything much about him other than that he was the son of the Martinique-born writer, Joseph Zobel, he trained at the Beaux-Arts in Bourges and at the International School of Ceramics in Faenza, Italy. He moved to Générargues, Anduze in southern France where he set up la poterie de La Madeleine (The Madeleine Pottery) with Vincent Bimar.

In the 1980s, he emigrated to Martinique to teach pottery.

Have a look at more of his work that’s been posted on Instagram

My French isn’t great, but if yours is, I’ve found a little memorial to the man here.

If you have any more information about him – please leave a comment below!

Image credits:

1st Dibs | Lot Art

Designer Desire: Egersund

Various ceramic designs from Egersund

This post was initially going to be about Kåre Blokk Johansen. However, so little is known about him and his designs that we’ve expanded it to include a couple of other Egersund designers. The pottery was in existence from 1847 to 1979, but we’re going to concentrate (mainly) on the mid-century modern designs.

Similar to Finel, shapes would often be designed by one designer and the pattern would be by another. For example, the Solsikke (Sunflower) and Lagune (Lagoon) patterns were applied to the Korulen shape. The Chérie pattern was done on the Circle shape.

What we do know, however, is that the popular Razorbill ‘alkemuggen’ (top) were designed by Jacob Kielland Sømme. They were available in five sizes and produced almost continuously from 1910 to 1979.

Blokk Johansen, the longest serving designer at the company, was responsible for the Unique (manufactured between 1971 and 1976) and Kongo patterns.

Unni Margrethe Johnsen (1942-2001) designed the patterns Lagune (Lagoon) and Solsikke (Sunflower).

Ingrid Marcussen designed the pretty Chérie pattern in 1966.

We have a few Egersund items for sale in our shop at the moment. There are also some available on eBay and Etsy.

If you can help fill in some of the blanks (or errors) in our knowledge, we’d appreciate your insight!

Shapes/patterns (from top to bottom, left to right):

• Razorbill ‘alkemuggen’ – Jacob K. Sømme
• Shape unknown/Inka
• Shape unknown/2 x Kongo
• Shape unknown/Cairo
• Shape unknown/Perfekt (Perfect)
• Shape unknown/Perfekt Sirkel (Perfect Circle)
• Korulen/pattern unknown
• Korulen/Solsikke (Sunflower)
• Unique/pattern unknown
• Unique/Appel (Apple)
• Circle/Chérie
• Korulen/Lagune (Lagoon)

Image credits:

Heidi Arstad | Tove