Pages

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Featured Collectible - Jens Quistgaard for Dansk

Every once in a while I have the good fortune to find Dansk items from famous mid-century modern designer Jens Quistgaard. The NY Times published a great article about him just after his death:

"Jens Quistgaard, a celebrated Danish industrial designer whose clean-lined and immensely popular pieces for the Dansk brand of tableware helped define the Scandinavian Modern style for postwar Americans, died on Jan. 4 at his home in Vordingborg, Denmark. He was 88."

He was a prolific designer who really set a standard with his work for Dansk. I recently scored a huge lot of amazing Teak wood items that are up at auction this week, which inspired this post... but first lets take a look at some of the other things he is known for:

Kobenstyle Enamelware

Here are a couple pieces of Kobenstyle enamelware I've sold in the past:

Yellow Coffee Pot & Pitcher Set

Yellow Casserole Cooking Pot

And look at what is up on eBay right now:

Aqua Casserole Cooking Pot - according to the seller, the rarest color!

Yellow Nesting Bowls

Flamestone

Here's a drool-worthy set:

Dansk Designs IHQ Flameware Coffee Service

Glassware

I love the simple style of the glassware I've seen, in great colors!

Green Glass Vase

Here's a cool ad showing a nice variety of glass:

Teak Wood

Ok, let's get to the Teak pieces that I was lucky enough to find! I bought them from a sweet woman who had them since she got married in the 50's... she was selling them to help raise college money for her granddaughter - isn't that nice? I wanted to keep them really, really, *really* badly - but practicality won out, as always.

Meat Serving Platter

Serving Tray or Platter - I actually got two of these!

Fjord Flatware - I got over 50 pieces of this amazing flatware, which I split up into place settings, except for my favorites, the iced tea spoons:

Awesome, huh? I love all of it! Click here to check out the rest - I have some trivets, coasters, napkin rings... a really unbelievable score!

In doing my research the most interesting thing I found is that the Teak pepper mills seem to be the most sought after - don't ask me why, but there is even a book about them for collectors:

They are cool, and there's several different shapes and styles... here's a couple that are up right now:

Dansk Teak Peugeot Pepper Mill

Dansk Teak Pepper Mill with Original Box

Oh wait! One other thing before I go -

Candle Holders

I also got a really cool cast iron candle holder and 2 boxes of the candles that were made especially for the Quistgaard holders:

There are several styles of these, this one I really love:

Cast Iron Candelabra Style Candle Holder

He actually designed a ton of candle holders - silver, teak, glass, cast iron - and if you are looking to add some Danish modern flair to your vintage decor, they are an affordable way to go!

Looking this post over I think it may be one of the longest ones I've ever done... it's ok, if anyone deserves it, it's Jens Quistgaard!



SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

6 comments:

  1. NICE blog entry! I love his stuff, and have a set of DANSK Thistle flatware that I inherited from my Great Aunt that I use daily! THANKS for all of the background info!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Smart looking DANSK items! I like the streamline effect. Its clean, chic and colorful. Great items with which to decorate a kitchen for those who like "Modernism".

    ReplyDelete
  3. I feel like I've seen some of the teak pieces before, but certainly not any of the intriguing enamelware.

    I bet now I've read about this, suddenly these sorts of items will be drawing my attention when I go antiquing.

    Always nice to learn about new things.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great Dansk post! I saw that coffee service at a garage sale this summer for $30 -- it's so nice. I had no idea that pepper mill book existed. Sweet!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I used to have one of the glass vases that you show on your site. Does anyone have an idea of where I could find one?
    Davene

    ReplyDelete
  6. thanks for posting HISTORY tid-bits of vintage pieces... I work at a Retro shop in Salt Lake City... luv having resources like this to educate myself on items we have...

    ReplyDelete