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.

Fancy a Cuppa Tea?

Although I mainly buy and sell West-German Fat Lava pottery and Mid Century glass as I collect these items myself, I do see a lot of wonderful other vintage or antique items when visiting fairs or shops. And being blessed with the collectors gen, sometimes you just fall in love with something, and you need to buy it.

A few weeks ago me and my husband were browsing one of the last outdoor markets of the year, it was lovely weather and there were a lot of sellers, and we found a plethora of goodies. Two of my favorite finds that day were tea-themed, and they complement each other perfectly!

First of all, we came upon this fab teacup and saucer. This isn't any old teacup, but proper British bone china. This piece was made as a commemorative item for the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer by the company Regency China Ltd, founded in 1953 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. As it was made for the Royal Wedding, we can date it exactly to 1981, which is always lovely.

Commemorative cup for Charles and Diana by Regency China Ltd, 1981

Sadly I wasn't yet around in 1981, so I don't have any memories of that royal wedding, but I do remember seeing lady Di on the television during my childhood, and thinking what a beautiful and stylish lady she was.

Lady Diana, collage courtesy of fabsugar

Although I realize an enormous amount of commemorative goodies must have been made for the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana, just as was the case for the Royal Wedding of William and Kate, I do think some items are good investments that have the potential to become real collectibles. This cup and saucer are quite high quality and have some lovely transfer prints, in pretty pastel colors. However, I mainly fell in love with it because to me this item is so quintessentially British, and I've had a thing for the UK ever since I was a little girl.

Now, I was already a happy bunny after finding the teacup and saucer, but things were about to get even better! One of the other sellers was selling this stunning set of six Mid Century silver demitasse spoons. Each spoon has a different color of enamel, they come in their original box , and look like they were never used. How can you not fall in love with these, they are so pretty!

Egon Lauridsen Mid Century Danish silver enamel spoons

The spoons were made by Egon Lauridsen from Denmark. This silver smith worked in Copenhagen, and the particular mark on this spoons was used between 1936 and 1966. Sadly, I couldn't find more information about the maker. It does seem like this kind of enamel on silver items were common in Scandinavia in the fifties and sixties; in addition to spoons, bowls and cruet sets, a lot of silver on enamel jewellery can also be found.

Image courtesy of Veilinghuis Peerdeman

I have to admit that I have a bit of a weak spot for enamel on silver, and especially guilloche enamel. A few years ago I was at a local auction where I spotted the most beautiful silver miniature powder compact with green enamel guilloche decoration. It was made in a way that you could wear it as a pendant on a necklace. It even had the original little powder puff. Although I caught a bit of auction fever during bidding, I still wasn't able to purchase the compact. I regret not buying it until today.

Although it is obviously not the same, finding these pretty little teaspoons really made my day!