Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Girl With Hat by Elsi Borelius for JIE Gantofta, Sweden



In my opinion, the works of Elsi Borelius (1908-2001) for JIE Gantofta doesn't get all the appreciation they deserve. Some of her more commercially successful works, like the famous Flower Girls, are still highly attractive and popular, even if we can still find a lot of those pieces out there. Borelius diverse, delicate feminine art deserves greater attention. Again, in my opinion. Her work is very exciting. Some of her pieces are gorgeous and bring so much references with them. There is a mix of an anthropological reading with strong dashes of primitivism and a lot of Scandinavian folk ceramic tradition. I love her works, even her latest more commercial pieces. 

This piece "girl with hat" is stunning small piece. Not very easy to find. The face of the girl tells it all. Just perfect. A piece of pottery that inspires me everyday. It is one of my favorite pieces of Elsi Borelius. Such a great piece.  You find it HERE









Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Turquoise Magic - Vladislav Urban MORAVIA Vase


One of the few pieces still available at our shop. The sales of Sklo Union vases have exploded during the lockdown months and most of our inventory is gone. I was able to source new pieces, which sold instantaneously, some of them in less than 24 hours. This turquoise blue MORAVIA vase was designed by Vladislav Urban in 1969 for Rosice Glassworks of former Czechoslovakia. This is a fabulous glass piece in a very hard to find color. Truly, a great find. You can buy it now HERE






Saturday, May 30, 2020

As beautiful as it gets - Sklo Union Pale light blue MORAVIA jardiniere vase


This fabulous pale light blue glass jardiniere vase did not warm its place on our shelves. It was sold almost instantaneously after the listing was published. I decide to blog about it here because it is too beautiful of a glass piece to be left out of this blog. This gorgeous piece is part of the MORAVIA series designed in 1969 by Vladislav Urban to  Rosice Glassworks of former Czechoslovakia. It is so beautiful that it hurts to let it go. But we are not here to play, we are here for business. 

Hope you enjoy some pictures.





Thursday, April 30, 2020

Humppila Finland, REVONTULI glass platter


Humppila is one of the Finland traditional glass makers with very recognizable designs by several famous designers. Tauno Wirkkala, not sure he has any relation to the other famous Wirkkala, is one of the designers who worked for Humppila. He made some stunning and creative designs, very bold, with organic forms and ombré finishing to the glass. I find this ombré color changing from a darker brown shade to clear glass via amber and yellow stunning. His pieces are bottom signed, etched with his name and the company. This design is called REVONTULI and is for sale in our shop. 

Check the this beautiful item in our shop here 









Sunday, April 26, 2020

Frantisek Vizner Vase 20053 for Sklo Union, a very special listing


I listed a very special item this week. This beautiful set of four glass vases, each in a different color. This piece was created by Czech designer Frantisek Vizner (1936-2011) in 1963 for Czechoslovakia glass factory Hermanova Hut with pattern 20053. It is a small piece with 8,5 centimeters of height but this design is perfect and this small glass vase turned out to be one of Vizner's most recognized designs. The set in four colors, clear glass, pale light blue, old pink and lilac. Enjoy the pictures.

I am placing a direct link to the listing here











Thursday, March 12, 2020

Arabia Finland FLORA: Flower Sales Power...


Listed these lovely FLORA tea cups in my shop at the end of the day yesterday and moved forward to make some dinner... before I could finish eating my dinner the cups were sold... That was a record. 

Arabia Finland FLORA  is a very attractive series, Esteri Tomula designs in general are highly attractive and tend to fetch a lot of money and sell quite fast and there are buyers out there hunting them all the time. However, I thought that my recently sourced set of tea cups were not the most attractive cups out there because, even if the cups per se were in fabulous condition, the saucers were ruined... completely wasted and destroyed from too much washing and scratching... guess their previous owner used the saucers more than the cups... The saucers are in such a bad condition that I decided to list the cups without the saucers because they are not worth the cost of shipping...

So, off they go... what are the odds? these lovely saucer-less cups are going back to Finland, they found a new home in their home country... 

A happy ending story. Love those.



It is not possible to see from this angle but the saucer in the picture is in terrible shape... the glaze is completely scratched and gone, puff, destroyed... such a pity. Heavy dish washer use and cutlery marks. 




Friday, January 31, 2020

JIE Gantofta Sweden - Ewa Jarenskog's Couple of Gossipers...


"What are you saying? NO! Really?" 
 Wonder what these two are gossiping about? Me too.



This small ceramic figurine designed by Ewa Jarenskog has a couple dressed in black gowns chatting, or as I like to say, gossiping. It is really beautiful and their black gowns adds some mystery to the piece. It will look fabulous in a corner on any small shelf. 

Ewa Jarenskog created several pieces for JIE Gantofta, several of them showing couple in romantic embraces, but this one is not very romantic, is it? More like a couple of friends gossiping, right? That is what it looks to me.  You will find this lovely little ceramic sculpture here




Thursday, January 30, 2020

One Iconic German Vase: Ruscha 313




Today I just wanted to share some large pictures of this stunning iconic vase. Known as Ruscha 313, this ceramic vase was manufactured by German pottery Ruscha with pattern number 313. Ta-da! 

Ruscha 313 was designed by Kurt Tschörner in 1957 and off it went to become one of the most iconic pieces of mid century modern German ceramic. This design was released in two main editions with slightly small differences between the two. The design was manufactured with hundreds of different types of glazes what, per se, is an invitation for collection. How can one choose a favorite glaze for such a gorgeous piece? 

This vase has a light blue marble-like matte glaze. In this version the glaze mixes light shades of blue and gray into a grayish blue thick layer with thin brown lines. The final result may look like marble. This type of glaze is also very characteristic of Ruscha and were added to all their line of items. Vases, bowls, wall hanging planters etc.. This type of marble-like finishing was done in different colors and shades from very light shades of gray, brown, green, blue and black... All very beautiful.

This vase is for sale in our shop Doce Vika Vintage