Dish thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 145

Dish

1895 (manufactured)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This dish demonstrates Bindesbøll's use of abstracted Japanese motifs to create pattern in a vigorous, expressionist manner that is typical of much of his work. Japanese style, which spread across Europe in the late nineteenth century also prompted an altogether looser aesthetic, with an interest in organic forms, rich surface patination, and abstracted decoration.

Bindesbøll was an architect and designer who worked across different media, from furniture to book-binding, but from 1880 to 1906 he developed a particular interest in ceramics which helped hime to hone his distinctive style. Like many designers, Bindesbøll usually instructed professional potters in the actual potting, after which he would decorate the wet clay himself, and apply the glaze. In the case of this dish the manufacturing was undertaken by Københavns Lervarefabrik. It has been hand decorated but Bindesbøll also produced designs for mass production.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Glazed earthenware decorated with slip decoration
Brief description
Dish, earthenware, slip decorated and painted in green and brown, designed and decorated by Thorvald Bindesbøll, Denmark, 1936.
Physical description
Earthenware dish with slip decoration incised and worked, and painted in green and brown glazes.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 45cm
  • Weight: 3.5kg
Marks and inscriptions
'TB' in monogram (Incised)
Object history
A note of this dish is among the Bindesbøll papers at the Kunstindustrimuseum, Copenhagen, recording the fact that the dish was owned by a Mr. F. Andersen before 1918.

Purchased from Wolter, Kunst und Schmuck, Jungfernstieg 26, 2000 Hamburg 36, W. Germany.
Summary
This dish demonstrates Bindesbøll's use of abstracted Japanese motifs to create pattern in a vigorous, expressionist manner that is typical of much of his work. Japanese style, which spread across Europe in the late nineteenth century also prompted an altogether looser aesthetic, with an interest in organic forms, rich surface patination, and abstracted decoration.

Bindesbøll was an architect and designer who worked across different media, from furniture to book-binding, but from 1880 to 1906 he developed a particular interest in ceramics which helped hime to hone his distinctive style. Like many designers, Bindesbøll usually instructed professional potters in the actual potting, after which he would decorate the wet clay himself, and apply the glaze. In the case of this dish the manufacturing was undertaken by Københavns Lervarefabrik. It has been hand decorated but Bindesbøll also produced designs for mass production.
Bibliographic references
  • Opie, Jennifer Hawkins. Scandinavia: ceramics & glass in the twentieth century. London: V&A Publications, 1989. 35 p. ISBN 1851770712.
  • Opie, J., 'A dish by Thorvald Bindesbøll', The Burlington Magazine, May, 1990, pp356-8.
Collection
Accession number
C.162-1988

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Record createdSeptember 22, 2008
Record URL
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