Gerd Hiort Petersen Denmark

Born in 1937, Gerd Hiort Petersen became Bornholm’s first female pottery apprentice when she took up her apprenticeship at Michael Andersen pottery as a youth.

By the age of 27 her stoneware and porcelain were being exhibited in Denmark and abroad.

She worked for Royal Copenhagen from 1965-1973. While she was at Royal Copenhagen she designed many pieces, including their 1973 Annual Mug.

My interest in her work however lies in the fantastical and imaginative pieces she created at Soholm Pottery, Bornholm where she worked 1961-1962. They have quite a surrealist/ancient vibe about them with their fantastic creatures  – although these designs may be based in spirituality as Gerd is also very well known for her Church commissions.

Since 1973 she has worked in her own studio with husband Hans Munck Andersen and she is today recognised as one of the top ceramicists in Denmark. Along with her husband Hans Munch Andersen, she continues to work from the island of Bornholm, Denmark which for centuries has been the centre of ceramics in Denmark.

Her work is exhibited internationally, and held in many private collections and large museums. Her work today consists normally of large, colour-saturated plates, bowls and reliefs, bearing the hallmarks of her feeling for cliffs, linear ornamentation of fields and grass, – the landscape of Bornholm.

The video below from YouTube gives a good indication of the distinctive style she developed, and is from a joint retrospective exhibition held in 2007 with her husband.

Much of Gerd’s work at Soholm, and Royal Copenhagen is marked GHP as in the example below from the teapot base.