Glass Message Board
Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. => Scandinavian Glass => Topic started by: catshome on February 26, 2007, 06:17:42 PM
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Hi All,
The more I find out about Scandinavian Glass, the more I wonder why some pieces are so sought after and others don't seem to have the same "pulling power".
I'm guessing the name of the designer may mean more than the name of the factory? But Hadeland Glass seems to have had quite a few well-known designers and yet there's relatively little of it around and it doesn't seem to command very high prices. It also doesn't seem to crop up on the GMB very much!
Today I saw a stunning bottle decanter in blue glass with a white spiral, signed Hadeland 1960 and also with initials - I've trashed my glasses and it looked like KM..........but I could only find a BM (Benny Motzfeld[t]) when I started looking for more information. It was £68 so sadly I couldn't afford to buy it just to be able to share it with you all.
So is Hadeland one to pick up for the pension? Or always destined to be the poor relation compared to Kosta, Holmegaard, Riihimaki, Orrefors, etc?
Please polish those crystal balls and share your predictions..........
Thank you
Cat
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Ooo - Hadeland, some of my favorite designers worked there :)
Why HG doesn't pop up so much outside Norway I'm not sure, I suspect tho that very little of the
artglass was exported.
HG artglass is quite popular in Norway, some of the more famous designers pieces go for anything between
£10 and £6000, the latter a recent cameo vase by Axel Boman. Nice HG pieces that go up on online auctions here
will usually sell without problem, signed pieces are more popular of course.
Anything hand signed by Benny Motzfeldt is very popular, altho almost anything that has a BM Plus,
B.M. or Designed by BM label will be picked up by collectors right quick. Her hand signature is an easily
readable B.M followed usually by the last two digits of the year of make.
BM was a prolific designer and glassblower at Randsfjord Glassverk, Hadeland, Plus and Hallingglass.
Her designs from Randsfjord and Plus are especially popular.
Other very popular HG designers are the above mentioned Boman, Jon Wilhelm Johansson,
his son Willy Johansson, Jonas Hidle, Arne Jon Jutrem, Hermann Bongard and Severin Brørby.
Hadeland artglass is always signed, not counting seconds and trial pieces.
Usually it will have "Hadeland" engraved along with the artists initials, if it was blown by that artist,
or it may have the artists number, and a year.
Some glass is signed by the designer, the glassblower, the engraver etc.
This is one of my favorites by Willy Johansson, the picture does not do it justice.
It's a tall sommerso with deep purple inside clear glass and a transparent green on the bottom.
It is a second as it's not signed, there are airbubbles inside and that would cause WJ not to sign it.
Both WJ and JWJ were very strict and if a piece wasn't perfect it would not get a signature.
WJ Vase 1 (http://www.wilhelmsen.no/glass/wj.vase.jpg)
WJ Vase - natural light (http://www.wilhelmsen.no/glass/wj.vase2.jpg)
Here are two small vases in a series by Benny Motzfeldt called "groups in glass", designed to be displayed in
windowsills and the like where light will make them light up in different colors. A very popular series,
which was made at Randsfjord and is usually not signed. They come in variations of green and blue,
all sizes and shapes and no two are identical.
Small six sided BM vase (http://www.wilhelmsen.no/glass/benny_motzfelt.glass.in.groups02.JPG)
Small round BM vase (http://www.wilhelmsen.no/glass/benny_motzfelt.glass.in.groups06.JPG)
What's in store for HG in the future? I think, and hope, that the great glass made there prior to 1980 or thereabouts
will remain popular and will become increasingly valuable. Anything by Axel Boman is a good bet but
horrendously expensive. I am personally very fond of their early art glass period, some of the creations
made in the 1940-1970'ies were totally amazing.
This is an ongoing auction for a three layered unsigned bowl by WJ, these are very popular, bids are at approx. £50
with three days to go. Bowl (http://my.qxl.no/accdb/viewItem.asp?IDI=500671956)
As to who signed the blue decanter I'm not sure, I'm not aware of anyone matching those initials in 1960.
It could be that the 1960 refers to a series, if so it would be by Hermann Bongard.
HG also makes a series of blue urns (http://my.qxl.no/accdb/viewItem.asp?IDI=501199800&ListingType=0&ListingSort=1&PageNr=1&Catg=22482&ArticleType=0&LanguageNr=20), these are usually signed with the full year and no artists signature. They are very popular.
Hope this adds something, I'm working on a website for my glass, but it's gotta be done inbetween
a million other things so it's not coming along very fast at the moment.
Another problem is that I started collecting HG and Murano, added Randsfjord and Plus, added
paperweights, then added excentricities ( like my decanter with a hollow swan inside ) etc ;)
So now I have a gazillion categories to research and enjoy, it's great fun but somewhat time consuming :)
This board has taught me a lot tho and I am forever grateful to you all for sharing.
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Hi Alexander,
That is an amazing amount of information - I really appreciate you sharing it. I may be popping back to the place I saw it and might be cheeky and ask to take a picture to add to the information for your site. I'll also take a better magnifier and double check the initials - they were on the stopper too so at least one set should be readable.
Kind regards
Cat
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Thank you so much Alexander!
I have a little group of animals that were lotted as Norwegian. I assumed Hadeland (no pics at present as they are in the bottom of a box somewhere) but they are not signed.
Do you know if anyone else in Norway made chunky glass animals very similar to Hadeland ones? Or are some Hadeland ones unsigned?
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Thanks - always nice to see HG is in shops in other countries, I have pondered why HG doesn't have the same
international name as Holmegaard anc the others, apart from the lower export output I'd say it might be related to the
fact that Iittala, Rihimaki, and Holmegaard all have some timeless classics that have carried their names
far and wide.
The Gulvase for example which some see as a signature series for Holmegaard, Iittala have the beautiful tulip vases by Ivar Aalto
and a huge range of other nice glass and they export all they can. I know here in Norway the Iittala glass has
for a long time been considered top notch finnish quality and design.
Norway is not most famous for her designers ;) but I hope that improves, we have a good crop of young designers
making their marks at the moment and interest in them should rub off on older designers.
I've found the Bongard vase I mentioned above, the price realised was around £6000.
This is a link to the item on the auction site (http://www.blomqvist.no/auksjoner/view_obj.asp?auksjonID=44&objID=12423)
Was the decanter you saw anything like this? (http://www.blomqvist.no/auksjoner/view_obj.asp?auksjonID=49&objID=13702)(link to auction site)
This is by an earlier glassworks called Gjøvik, dated to around 1810-20. Hadeland have continued some of these popular
old designs as Hadeland Glass gobbeled up most of the smaller glassworks as it grew. These are quite popular, the older ones
can sell for around £1000+
About glass animals, Hadeland has made lots of glass animals, usually "chunky" and stylized rather than with great detail,
their polar bears are especially popular. Other popular animals include minks/otters, seals etc. There is a musk oxen by another
glassworks that's very popular but the maker escapes me at the moment, could be HG or RG but I'm drawing a blank.
I'm not sure how much of the animal production is signed, today anything except
seconds and trials is signed, but I have a nice polar bear that's not. It has an "x" scratched in on the base.
If you get pics I should be able to tell you the designer. I think the other glassworks have also made animals,
but I mostly see Hadeland.
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Was the decanter you saw anything like this? (http://www.blomqvist.no/auksjoner/view_obj.asp?auksjonID=49&objID=13702)(link to auction site)
This is by an earlier glassworks called Gjøvik, dated to around 1810-20. Hadeland have continued some of these popular
old designs as Hadeland Glass gobbeled up most of the smaller glassworks as it grew. These are quite popular, the older ones
can sell for around £1000+
Alexander - the decanter was exactly like that but with the stopper. When you say "older ones" I expect you mean much older than 1960. I can see why I didn't find it when I searched - I need to learn Norwegian, or find an online translation site Norwegian-English so that I can search in Norwegian!
Thank you (again)
Cat
PS I'm looking forward to seeing the animals some time.....
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Very cool - with a stopper and in perfect condition that's not a horrendous price
but I don't know what these later decanters go for. They don't come up very regularly
and seem to be snapped up in auctions. The signature could give an indication.
The auction that the one i linked to sold at also had a stopper sold separately for approx £230,
they had four of them at that auction. All of those from early 18xx
Auction page (http://www.blomqvist.no/auksjoner/auction.asp?auksjonID=49&page=13&numobjects=15)
This is the current line of animals from Hadeland Glassverk.
Animals (http://www.hadeland-glassverk.no/hgshop/Main.aspx?cat=203&serie=true)
Their official site is at hadeland-glassverk.no (http://www.hadeland-glassverk.no/Default_2.aspx?lang=eng)
It's in English and Norwegian.
I couldn't find the blue decanter there, that doesn't mean it's discontinued as their webpage only
has a little sampler of their products.
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I have found more information on the blue decanter marked 1960 :)
It was made to commemorate the city of Gjøvik's 100th anniversary,
these were made 1959-61 and marked "hadeland" and full year.
Hadeland Glassverk made a series of 12 blue pieces based on the old Gjøvik Glassverk designs.
So the one you saw is somewhat rare it would appear.
Source: Antikvitetsleksikon by Ellen Ørnes 2004, ISBN 82 7201 367 3
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ummmm...............suddenly £68 doesn't seem so much............
Astonishing that you've found out so much Alexander..........."thank you" doesn't seem adequate :-*.
Cat
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You're very welcome - I'm happy to be able to contribute :)
I'm a bit in the dark as far as valuation as I haven't got any sales of these later
decanters to go on - this style of glass is very popular in Norway tho.
Identifying the artist would help.
Edit: Valuing these newer ones is tricky without more data, it could be
that the price asked is high'ish for that location, up here it could
go for anywhere from £30-200 based on what i've seen of the cobalt blue
from that period.
Value aside - it is a beautiful decanter.
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Am putting shoes on and will (hopefully) be able to show it to you later!
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Am back - gleefully clutching Decanter. Here are some quick snaps - I will post some better pictures once I've washed it and removed the piece of Daily Telegraph from inside!
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/albums/userpics/10086/smallerDSCN0788.jpg
Mark to bottom :
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/albums/userpics/10086/smallerDSCN0790%7E0.jpg
Mark on stopper (very hard to photograph - I think it might be Hd or HdL)
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/albums/userpics/10086/smallerDSCN0791%7E0.jpg
Alexander - I thought about the signature bit on the drive over to fetch it. If the designer's initials usually go on a piece, but the piece is a copy of a 19th Century piece, I wouldn't be surprised if only the factory name appeared.
Thank you again for all the information!
Cat
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Well done Cat! It's very nice indeed!
filled up with some nice chilled Soave....
yum...
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It's fabulous :)
The signature could be just for HG as you suggested, or maybe it's the person who made the piece?
I know HG were conscious not to make something that could be confused with the older pieces.
It's a very nice piece of glass, I'm slightly envious now ;)
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Hi Cat
Nice Decanter, I feel that I have seen that decanter recently on my travels, maybe Lewes Church street ? , have to admit I did not even pick it if its the one
Roy
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Hi Roy,
I'm still getting used to the idea that we don't all just exist in cyberspace and probably many of us mooch in the same areas looking for a treasure. I'm beginning to think I should ask before I go anywhere as it would be pretty pointless heading out in the afternoon, only to find that someone else has stripped it bare in the morning!
You have a great memory. The decanter was from Lewes - the old church place on the oneway road (I don't know Lewes well enough to know the road names yet!).
Did you go to Ardingly today? Given the weather I'd think there were some bargains to be found.
Take care
Cat
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Sorry I'm four years late to this discussion, but I picked up this gorgeous pair of candlesticks at a show last weekend for what seems like to me a ridiculously low price of $30 US.
Based on what I've read above, are these designed by Jonas Hidle? Any idea of the true value?
Thanks - Norwegian is not my usual poison, I collect Bohemian, but I liked these very much:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bohemianglassandmore/sets/72157625791869840/
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Your candlesticks are indeed by Jonas Hidle of Hadeland, designed in 1953 as part of their art glass range. Hidle made just a few pieces of art glass, and is best known for his glass lamps and chandeliers. Check out the huge crystal chandeliers of the Kennedy Centre in Washington and Winnepeg Concert Hall in Canada. That’s Hidles work. Your candlesticks are quite a find. Congratulations!
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Thank you for the information - that's good news, indeed. :)
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Maybe the exception to the rule (Hadeland - the poor relation) but can anyone tell me why?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280613540813
It is a spectacular piece & certaintly rocked a few peoples boats....
Robbo
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I watched that auction as well. It didn't rock my boat....fortunately enough ;D otherwise I'd be very jealous. It's beautiful but not my cup of tea, but certainly it seems to have been a special piece for a few, even with a fleabite on the rim.
m
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Willy Johansson’s spiral vase, as it is known, probably had Norwegian bidders mainly, as it’s one of the iconic Hadeland pieces here. This model was made from 1952 until 1958, at a time when Johansson and other Hadeland designers were regularly awarded top prizes for their glass at the Milan triennale. As a rule, only 25 pieces were to be made of each model in their art glass range, but if demand exceeded that, exceptions were made, certainly in the case of the spiral vase. Still you’d be hard pressed to find maybe 50 of them, and many are of course chipped. Museums are queing for this vase, it’s top of the list for any Norwegian glass (or indeed design) collector, and the dark and slanted ebay photo really didn’t do it justice. As you can probably tell, I’m the happy owner of a perfect piece.
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I couldnt believe the title to this thread when i first saw it , still cant it goes like hot cakes . :phew:
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I was lucky enough to pick up this fabulous etched / engraved Hadeland bowl a while ago:
http://picasaweb.google.com/NordicEye/NorwegianGlass?feat=directlink
The decoration would seem to be a combination of etching and engraving.
From the research I've done I think it was a gift from Norwegian news agency Norsk Telegrambyrå to Reuters in 1951 (which makes sense because that was Reuters 100 anniversary).
It's signed on the base in a very delicate script "Hadeland Norway / H.B. 1951 T.G." Hermann Bongard?
Robbo
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Yes, that would indeed be Hermann Bongard. He was at Hadeland from 1948 until 1955. The initials TG would be the engraver, but I can’t help you there, I’m afraid. I agree it’s a gorgeous piece. Congratulations! Shame on Reuters, though, for not looking after it!
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WOW that is amazing , i want it :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
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I couldnt believe the title to this thread when i first saw it , still cant it goes like hot cakes . :phew:
Well...............we did start it in February 2007 ..............things were a little different then!
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I love Hadeland glass, as long as it is the hand blown stuff and not the 'pressed' type glass. My lovely hedgehog was featured here recently.....I got it on Australian eBay!! :sun:
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That looks really cute!
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throwing in the clear variant - and his flatmate.
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He doesn't look that flat to me Ivo!! :24:
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Alexander can you help , I have a decanter signed to the base Hadeland 1935 . os do you know who or what OS is ? Tak .