Posts tagged ‘Kronjyden Nissen’

Feb 23

Jens Quistgaard, Cigarette Jar, Kronjyden Nissen

Jens Quistgaard Ceramic & Rosewood Humidors, Kronjyden Nissen

Jens Quistgaard, Ceramic & Rosewood Humidors

Apart from the dinnerware designs Jens Quistgaard created in the 1960s and 1970s for Kronyjden Nissen he created a series of beautiful ceramic/rosewood accessories for cigarettes, smoking and cigars.

While this might seem odd to use these days, let’s not forget this was at a time when smoking was seen as a normal part of daily life, and often portrayed as aspirational.

The pieces he created included humidors, ashtrays, cigarette jars etc. They were pieces made to be proudly displayed as luxury items.

The glazes used were mostly from the azure and umber dinnerware series, combined with the most beautifully crafted and sculpted rosewood lids on many of the pieces which Quistgaard also designed.

These designs also complimented a now iconic series designed by Quistgaard known as the “Rare Wood Table Top Collection” of trays, bowls, ice buckets, pepper mills for Dansk Designs in 1961.

Lettering was used on the ceramic surfaces as a decorative technique to stunning effect, with a repeated word embossed on to the clay body, accentuating the beauty of the glaze and form.

It is not often you find wood and clay combined well – but Quistgaard did so to perfection in these designs.

Below are some of the pieces I have come across, but there are several more designs in this series which is now very hard to find, and keenly sought by design collectors.

Jens Quistgaard, Cigar Humidor, Kronjyden Nissen

Jens Quistgaard, Cigar Humidor, Kronjyden Nissen – Top View

Jens Quistgaard, Ashtray, Kronjyden Nissen

Jens Quistgaard, Cigarette Jar, Kronjyden Nissen

Feb 21

Mexico Design, Teapot, Jens Quistgaard, Kronjyden Nissen

Mexico Design, Kronjyden Nissen, Denmark

“Mexico” Kronjyden Nissen, Denmark.

At the end of the 1960s into the 1970s a new group of series was produced by Kronjyden Nissen Denmark, all on the same shape (form no 38). This group of designs started with Tema, then followed closely with Mexico & Columbia.

It is often purported that these designs were by Jens Quistgaard – but there seems to be no documentation around this. One theory is that he did design them, but did not want his name attributed to the designs due to a perceived conflict of interest with his Dansk Design company. To me looking at the forms and the decor of Tema & Mexico, they look and feel like designs by Quistgaard, but without a clear record this can not be confirmed.

Tema became the highest selling dinner service in Denmark at the time (mid 1970s) – although I find Mexico much more impressive looking and interesting. The way the Mexico glaze behaves on the form lifts the design to a whole new level, and lifts the otherwise plain and functional form of Tema to me.

Peru on form 45, and Coppelia on form 46 followed, but interest in stoneware dinnerware was now starting to decline, and by 1988 Kronjyden Nissen closed and was taken over by Bing & Grondahl/Royal Copenhagen. B&G continued producing some of the designs for several years and you will often find services such as “Cordial”, “Rune”, & “Contrast ” with the Bing & Grondahl backstamp.

Mexico Design, Jug Form, Jens Quistgaard, Kronjyden Nissen

Mexico Design, Jug Form, Kronjyden Nissen

Mexico Design, Sugar Bowl, Jens Quistgaard, Kronjyden Nissen

Mexico Design, Sugar Bowl, Kronjyden Nissen

Mexico Design, Large Tea Cup Jens Quistgaard, Kronjyden Nissen

Mexico Design, Large Tea Cup Kronjyden Nissen

Mexico Design, Teapot, Kronjyden Nissen

Feb 19

Rune design Jug, Bowl - Jens Quistgaard for Kronjyden Nissen

Jens Quistgaard “Rune” Design, Kronjyden Nissen

Jens Quistgaard “Rune”, Kronjyden Nissen

Another of the great stoneware designs by Jens Quistgaard for Danish maker Kronjyden Nissen in the 1960s.

This design is called “Rune”, and the motifs on the design appears to be based upon or give an impression of early Runes (turned on their side) which were which were used to write various Germanic/Scandinavian languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet.

Again it is a stoneware dinner service, this time with a smooth semi matte glaze with lovely pale olive green to ochre colours on the rims and edges. Again the brass rattan wrapped handles on some of the pieces add to the feel of being hand-crafted.