Mid2Mod: Sven Palmqvist

Showing posts with label Sven Palmqvist. Show all posts

Monday, March 19, 2012

Sven Palmqvist

Sven Palmqvist (1906-1984) was born in the glass district of southern Sweden and started his career with Orrefors in 1928, where he remained until 1972. After leaving Orrefors, he worked as an independent designer.

Palmqvist is known not only for his graceful and functional designs, but he is also known for his innovative techniques in glass production. In the late 1930s he began to develop the Kraka technique, which places a layer of fishnet patterned glass between layers of non-colored glass.

In the 1950s he invented a method of rotating liquid glass in a centrifuge, pressing the glass toward the outer walls. This made extensive hand finishing unnecessary. Palmqvist called the first series produced by this method Fuga and received a gold medal and the Grand Prix for it at the Milan Triennale in 1957.

Perhaps his most technically complicated design is the Ravenna series, in which segments of colored glass are surrounded by sanded holes, creating a mosaic effect.

From modernity.se

Kraka bowl for Orrefors
deconet.com

Rhapsody decanter and glasses for Holmegaard
glass-roots.co.uk

Ravenna bowl
ecklunds.com

Selena for Orrefors
botterweg.com

Expo bowl for Orrefors
freeformsusa.com

Kraka vase for Orrefors
modern-antiques.eu

Colora bowls
pafemtevaningen.com

Engraved abstract design
modernistglass.com

Pronunciation Guide

Friday, September 24, 2010

Glass masters

1950s glass, once called “the collectibles of the future,” has lived up to its name. The exquisite bottles, bowls and vases from Europe and America that graced almost every twentieth century home have now become highly coveted collectors’ items.

Beautiful glass was created by Italians Paolo Venini, Fulvio Bianconi, Dino Martens, Aldo Nason, Flavio Poli and Carlo Scarpa. Scandinavians such as Sweden’s Sven Palmqvist and Vicke Lindstrand, Denmark’s Per Lutken and Otto Brauer, as well as Finland’s Tapia Wirkkala, Timo Sarpaneva and Kaj Franck satisfied America’s love of dramatic shapes in both clear glass and vibrant colors.

Produced in the United States and perhaps somewhat less exotic to middle-class Americans than European designs were the pieces that came from Blenko, Fenton and Viking. What they lacked in mystique, they made up in accessibility, because almost every mid-century home had a Blenko decanter or carafe, Fenton milk glass or a Viking swung vase.

Most of these pieces were purchased purely for their decorative value and were affordable in almost every home, marking a departure from a time when only the wealthy could own such luxuries.