Topic: Per Lutken Hellas vase - who is Yvonne Simpson?

[neil53]

Hi, I picked up this engraved Per Lutken for Holmegaard Hellas vase recently which also carries a signature for Yvonne Simpson to the base.  Is Yvonne the engraver by any chance?  Also is the chamfered edge original or restoration?  Description of vase:

"This is a Holmegaard of Denmark tall, engraved Hellas vase, designed by Per Lutken and (engraved) by Yvonne Simpson in 1968. The vase is in excellent condition for its age.  It shows age related wear and tear to the rim of the base consistent with some 50 years of use.  The vase is blown in Smoke coloured (grey) glass, and is engraved with a naked woman holding the head of a whiskered beast, probably a lion. It measures 8.5 cm (3.4 inches) in width at its widest point. It ends in a base which is plain on which are etched the letters "Holmegaard PL 15391 Yvonne Simpson 1968".  The vase is 22.5 cm (9 inches) in height. There are no chips, cracks, significant scratches or any obvious evidence of restoration.  The outside edge of the upper rim has been chamfered as has the other example of this vase we can find online, so we assume that this dates from manufacture.  It weighs in at 945 g. (~ 2 lb. 1 oz.). "

Kind regards
Neil

[glassobsessed]

Here is another in Holmegaard's ice blue, the cut rims are original. Don't remember seeing another with an engraved design, guessing a freelance engraver.

John

Is she a mermaid with a a seal? Hitching a lift or?

[glassobsessed]

Just thought to look the vase up and the catalogue shows a lot of engraved variations:
https://www.hardernet.dk/Artglass/Hellas-Per_Lutken_HG_1950-1974.htm

[neil53]

Thank you John, much appreciated.  I was worried about the rim but all the other examples I could find also looked as if they had been chamfered/cut.  I don't think she is likely to be hitch hiking as she is naked, and even in Denmark that would be unusual :-).  I guess it could be the head of a seal/sealion in a bag rather than a lion's head and mane but the detail is not good enough to tell.  I guess that I was hoping that somebody would know who Yvonne Simpson was.  I can only think that she was the engraver but I can find nothing online that refers to an engraver of that name.  Just have to keep looking until I sell it I guess.  Kind regards, Neil

[NevB]

I thought there might be a connection to Scandinavian mythology and found this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selkie

[neil53]

Hello Nev, that's interesting.  Could be a female selkie with her skin in the bag she is carrying.  I couldn't find any similar images online but the statue of a selkie in the Faroe Islands - https://mermaidsofearth.com/mermaid-statues-mermaid-sculptures/public/mikladalur-mermaid-kopakonan/ - bears some resemblance.  You may have hit the proverbial nail on its head.  Kind regards

[NevB]

Yes Neil I believe she's a selkie, on your vase she is holding the seal skin but still has her legs and feet in the flippers.

[neil53]

Thank you Nev, and John who also suggested that it might be a seal, presumably suspecting the Selkie subject matter.  Now I only have to find out who Yvonne Simpson was.  Kind regards, Neil

[glassobsessed]

Her name also crops up here in a list of engraved vases on the same website, last vase:
https://www.hardernet.dk/Artglass/Graverede_vaser-HG_1957-1974.htm

[chopin-liszt]

Selkies are well-known Scottish folk-lore beasts, I suppose they'd have come over with the celtic and viking invasions.
Selkies and Kelpies are both mythical sea creatures.