Cathrineholm
The Cathrineholm factory, located in Halden Norway began manufacturing signs for advertising and general household items made of enamel on steel in 1907. Grete Prytz Kittelsen (1917 - ) is the name of the designer that was born into a family of very well known enamalists in Oslo, Norway. When she decided to mass produce her own enameled items, it was the Cathrineholm factory that started manufacturing these items in 1954. In 1962, the factory workers at Cathrineholm, without Grete's approval, added the "lotus" pattern that we have all come to associate with the Cathrineholm name. By doing so, they thought that this would be a bigger selling point to the housewives in Norway. To this day, Grete Prytz Kittelsen doesn't care so much for this design
Grete Prytz Kittelsen was born 1917 in Oslo, Norway. She is renowned for her work with stainless steel and enamel for Cathrineholm. I am sure you have seen one or more of her designs. My first memory of these beautiful enamel pieces is from skiing trips in Austria where we the cheese fondue was served in Cathrineholm. Grete’s designs have won many prestigious awards. She was a major influence on Scandinavian design in the forties and fifties. In 2003, when she was already 86, Grete went on her first trip to China. During her stay, she visited one of the few traditional Chinese enamel factories still in operation and decided to start designing again. Chang & Biörck has acquired exclusive rights to reproduce some of her work, among which a bowl and a plate, that she designed using the same colors as her original 1950s designs. Cathrineholm of Norway started production of enamel in 1907.
source (this blog gives a lot of great info on many different artists you may be interested in)
I fell in love with Cathrineholm the moment I saw my first piece.
(my sole, lonely yellow skillet)
I have since grown an obsession with searching out pieces only to be outbid on ebay at the last moments. I am very quickly realizing how expensive and how much people want these collections. I have vowed to find pieces and be able to offer it in my shop - but it will definitely be hard parting with pieces. I think I will only be able to sell anything that I am able to find a duplicate of. I have found some truly amazing collections that I am simple in awe of.
via RabbitAndRally
via flickr
Lisa Congdon's collection just makes me drool..
via flickr
I hope that was enough eye candy for you! I'm sure the majority of you already knew about Cathrineholm, and if not I hope I was able to give you a little background and most likely start a new obsession collection!
xo
t
