The H is for Home Harbinger

Where were we with our nature-influenced design blogs? We’ve been slightly sidetracked with the opening of our new shop.

Details of a vintage 1960s/70s calorific value tea towel

We’ve previously looked at fish, birds, flowers and leaves – today it’s the turn of fruit & vegetables.

‘Eden’ design by Meakin & Figgjo Flint butter dish

1950s strawberry bowl

They’ve been used as inspiration in artwork, illustration, decorative objects and unsurprisingly kitchen and dining wares.

Hornsea Pottery &  Goebel Pottery

Pair of Arabia preserve pots

Apples have always proved a very popular decorative subject, particularly strong during the 1960s & 70s it seems.

We love this glass apple designed by Ingeborg Lundin for Orrefors in 1955

Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love – Song of Solomon, 2:5, King James bible.

Cookbook illustrations from the 1950s are a firm favourite of ours.

And obviously you’ll need something to put all this fruit & veg in!!

These are two nice recent finds – a 1960s globe cane fruit basket and a 1950s Rye Pottery fruit dish.

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Amongst the items of fresh stock for next week we’ve got some lovely Cathrineholm pots & pans that we recently picked up.

This range of enamelware was designed by Grete Prytz Kittelsen in the 1970s.

Grete Prytz was born in Norway in 1917 to a famous, Oslo-based family of goldsmiths.

Between 1936 & 1941 she studied at the National College of Arts & Crafts. After graduating she went to work for the family firm designing jewellery and metalware.

Enamelling was a Norwegian speciality in the early years of the 20th century, a technique which Grete revived, drawing on the family’s expertise in this field. Characteristic of her designs were the abstract motifs and striking colours such as her Lotus range illustrated here.

There is currently an exhibition of her work at the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design (Nasjonalmuseet for Kunst, Arkitektur og Design) in Oslo until the end of August 2008. There is also a book/catalogue to accompany the exhibition available here.

If you’re a collector or are interested in seeing more of this work have a look at the Lovers of Cathrineholm Designs Flickr group.

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