A Saucepan for My Wife

A few days ago, I posted about the reissue of Dansk Kobenstyle cookware, designed by Jens Quistgaard in 1956. Stig Guldberg made a documentary film about Quistgaard and his craft that is next on a list of things to buy for myself, as I am a devoted Quistgaard admirer. I learned about this film when I ran across the two-minute clip from it on YouTube, shown below.

A reviewer of the film said:

He just wanted to make a saucepan for his wife. That's how it all began.

But soon his design attracted attention from around the world and began a long career--most notably as chief designer of Dansk Designs. The designer Jens Quistgaard is not easy to pigeonhole. He covers a wide field, both as a human being and as an artist. He is an individualist who goes his own way, avoiding publicity; which explains why he became world famous while remaining unknown in his own country, Denmark.

The film was shot over a period of three years, ending just a few months before Quistgaard died in 2008 at the age of 89. He is shown in his home, talking about his life, his work and his motivation as a designer. It also shows him at his workbench and at his exhibitions.

The film runs 36 minutes, but there are eight bonus clips totalling 28 more minutes in which Quistgaard talks about specific designs from his collections. The film comes with a full-color 56-page booklet in Danish and English which contains dozens of photographs and illustrations. The set costs around $40.

From amazon.com
All still images from amazon.com

Guldberg documentary

Jens Quistgaard at work

Organized, probably. Neat, not so much.

An assortment of Quistgaard's designs

youtube.com

Uploaded by jensquistgaard on Nov 25, 2009