Hand-Painted Ceramic Lidded Urn w. Flowers by Kurt Ekholm. Arabia, Finland 1930s

A grand and beautiful lidded vase. Hand painted faience on glazed stoneware. Scandinavian Modern / Swedish Grace. Designed by Eva Jancke-Björk for Bo Fajans, Sweden, 1940s. Great co...

A beautiful stoneware vase with amazing glaze. Made by Hertha Bengtson for Rörstrand, Sweden, 1950s. Excellent condition. Signed 'Bengtson' and 'R' för Rörstrand. Hertha Bengtson (1917-1993) is one of the well-known representatives of the illustrious Swedish ceramic design of the 20th century. She was one of the leading designers for the Rörstrand factory in the 1950s. Bengtson is represented at the Swedish National Museum of Art and Design. Hertha Bengtson was born in Ysane in Blekinge and grew up on a farm with her four brothers. Her parents were Henning and Asta Bengtson. Her father was a jack-of-all-trades and ran both a mink farm and a shop alongside his farm, which was the least of his interests. Her mother, to whom Hertha Bengtson was very close, was a skilled weaver. Hertha Bengtson's interest in textiles and handicrafts came from her mother. From her grandmother she inherited Scanian country textile knowledge and from her grandmother’s neighbour she learned to tat the Scanian way, without patterns. Upon completing her education at a girls’ school, Hertha Bengtson wanted to become a drawing teacher. However, there was no money to continue her formal education. Hertha Bengtson achieved top marks in drawing and handicrafts and therefore gained a place as a handicrafts teacher at one of the region’s elementary schools. During her time at the girls’ school, she had also taken evening classes in porcelain painting. In 1937 she applied to Hackefors’ porcelain factory in Linköping where she became employed as a pattern designer. Hertha Bengtson was interested in all aspects of the factory and when the men were called up for military service at the outbreak of the Second World War, she became head of her department at age 22. Hertha Bengtson wanted to create her own porcelain. She applied to and became employed at Rörstrand’s porcelain factory in 1941, where she started as a pattern designer but quickly became a master designer. Hertha Bengtson’s ability to combine beauty with function was fundamental to her success as a designer. Her breakthrough came with the innovative blue-and-white tableware...

Lidded Jar by Eva Jancke Björk for Bo Fajans, Sweden, c. 1930 Porcelain lidded jar sky blue with floral decorations, by Eva Jancke Björk for the Swedish porcelain studio Bo Fajans. ...

A French ceramic vase by Les Potiers d’Accolay, dating to the 1960s. The rounded body is softly contoured, its surface finished in a lavender-grey glaze. Incised floral motifs unfold...