Royal Copenhagen, Bing Grondahl “Plaquettes” – Mini Wall Plates 1960s

Royal Copenhagen, Bing Grondahl “Plaquettes” – Mini Wall Plates 1960s

I wasn’t getting far finding out much about the origin of these small midcentury Danish wall plates until I found a comprehensive entry on Wikipedia where there is the very informative entry below.

The secret in finding a link to relevant information on the web was apparently to use the word “plaquette” instead of “mini-plate”, “commemorative plate” or “royal Copenhagen plate” etc.

“Royal Copenhagen  no. 2010 plaquettes are a series of small, collectable plates produced by Danish factories, Aluminia and Royal Copenhagen. The numbered and named series of 80mm faience miniplates or “plaquettes” are generally round, though a few are square. The most common colours are moderate to deep blue on a white background, though some have additional colours.

On the front, each has a scene depicting boats, landscapes, people, animals, steeples, buildings, statues, bridges, windmills, and more. Some also have a date on the outside edge. A variety of artists have provided the detailed artwork, including Kai Lange, Jørgen Nielsen, and Sven Vestergaard

On the back, each plaquette has two pierced holes so the plaquettes can be hung for display. In addition to the number 2010, most (though not all) have an identification number, along with a description (usually in Danish, all capital letters) of the front scene. Some have the words “ROYAL COPENHAGEN DENMARK FAJENCE”, or just ‘DENMARK”. Some have the factory mark, three wavy lines one atop another. Some have a monogram. Some have the Royal Copenhagen modified beehive mark: a capital “A” representing the Aluminia factory with three wavy lines, representing Royal Copenhagen, as cross strokes. All plates manufactured after 1969 have a crown and the words “Royal Copenhagen Denmark”.

Earl Nelson Newman wrote and privately printed a small hard-cover book in 1973 entitled “The Danish Royal Copenhagen Plaquettes: 2010 Series”. This book contains pictures and descriptions of plates #1-#85, and the special series featuring American Presidents, zoo animals, and antique autos.

Because there was nearly no information/literature about the “2010” Series, Carsten Pedersen (a collector himself) wrote a collector’s catalogue.. The catalogue describes about 448 miniplates (plaquettes) from the “2010” series and other series (old and new) from Royal Copenhagen, Aluminia, Köbenhavns Fajancefabrik and Bing & Gröndahl, Copenhagen. The catalogue was privately printed and entitled “Royal Copenhagen, Aluminia, Bing & Gröndahl – Plaquetten-Miniplates Series 2010 and special editions”

 

Royal Copenhagen Plaquetes c1960s

Royal Copenhagen Plaquettes

Royal Copenhagen Plaquette Verso

Most other Danish Pottery factories also produced souvenir or commemorative plaquettes (in addition to Christmas, Mothers day and other seasonal plates).

Bing and Grondahl produced a charming series designed by Kjeld Bonfils, who was an artist working at Bing and Grondahl designing many of their souvenir and commemorative Christmas plates in the 1950s and 1960s when this sort of thing was hugely popular. These particular designs came in grey/white and the traditional blue and white. Again there was a huge number of popular Danish scenes and places to choose from:

Bing Grondahl Plaquettes – Kjeld Bonfils 1960s

Bing Grondahl Plaquettes – Kjeld Bonfils 1960s