Cattails

Hello dear reader! It has been an eternity since I last posted an article on my blog. I didn't go away in the meantime, but life got in the way! In addition to my online store on Etsy, I landed a full time job as a technical writer for a healthcare IT company in May. It's the most wonderful thing for me, because I get to do what I love all day: writing! It just meant I had to take a step back on my extracurricular activities for a while.

But I'm back! And I'm taking up where I left off, namely with Royal Copenhagen. Ok, ok, I know this isn't Fat Lava, and I promise I will do a post on German Pottery again soon, but I do love myself a piece of Scandi Pottery.

Two weeks ago I was able to pick up the most amazing set of three Royal Copenhagen vases. I figured they were by Nils Thorsson, as they were clearly from the Fajance series, but something in the bright yellow that was used in the decoration made me doubt this. After checking the signature on the bottom of the vases, I realized the decor was designed by another artist: Ivan Weiss. I haven't been able to confirm it, but apparently the decor is called Trina.

Ivan Weiss had an interesting career. Born in 1946, he started working at Royal Copenhagen in 1962 when he was just 26 years old. He started by learning to become an overglaze painter. He must have been good, because in 1966 he worked and studied with Nils Thorsson, until he left for Japan in 1970. He studied in Japan for 2 years.

When he returned to Denmark, he resumed work at Royal Copenhagen. I think this must have been when he started designing his own decors for Royal Copenhagen. It must also have been the time when the decor on these vases was designed.

He indicates that his designs are influenced by an interest in calligraphy and an absence of symmetry. When I look at the decor on these vases, I can easily imagine the gray strokes are inspired by traditional Buddhist calligraphy of Kanji.

What I especially love in these vases is the balance in the colors, the balance between light and dark tones. The yellow and brown work wonderfully together, but the silvery gray brings the decor to a whole new level. It is amazing how he can achieve such a beautiful look with basically two large strokes of color, accented by details in a third. When I look at these vases, they remind me of Cattails standing at the waterside in autumn sunrise.

In an interview, Ivan Weiss once said about his decors that they are "a landscape which you can enter and dream, disappear in." What a poetic way of thinking about these lovely vases. As long as this set is lodging with me I'll gladly gaze at them and dream of Cattails in the golden Indian summer light.