From Northern Europe comes this Nils Thorsson “flask”-form bottle (vase), complete with its original ceramic cover. He designed it for Royal Copenhagen (Denmark) in the mid-1960’s and supervised its production in their workshops. This Modernist form is a bit of a Thorsson “signature,” though one rarely finds it with the cover intact. Indeed, not all such pieces came with a cover originally—though many of those which did have met with a disappointing end over the years. This makes an existing cover extra special, indeed.
Nils Johan Thorvald Thorsson—a Swede by birth—was born in 1898 and began an internship with the Danish ceramics firm “Aluminia” at the age of 13. Six years later, Nils graduated form the Royal Danish Academy of Art and continued working at Aluminia where he was made Artistic Director from 1928 to 1969. He also oversaw design at Royal Copenhagen (which had been owned by Aluminia since 1882) from 1949 to 1969. In 1969, the Aluminia brand name was discontinued and all products were marked under the Royal Copenhagen brand.
Thorsson had a remarkable career with Aluminia/Royal Copenhagen, having designed some of their most popular Mid-Century pieces—pieces which, by the way, are still popular today with Modernist collectors. Thorsson died in 1975.
Please click on the photo above to learn more about this piece or come into the shop to see it in-person—and other Nils Thorsson pieces (some of which may be seen in the background of the photo).