Gray Speckled Ceramic Bowl - Carl-Harry Stålhane - Rörstrand Mid 20th Century

A lovely black bowl designed by Carl-Harry Stålhane at Rörstrand, the bowl is 18.5 cm in diameter at the top and 9.5 cm high. It is in excellent condition except from some minor marks in the glaze near the base why it is marked as 2nd quality. Carl-Harry Stålhane is one of the top names when it comes to midcentury Scandinavian Ceramics...

A lovely blue bowl designed by Gunnar Nylund at Rörstrand, the bowl is 39 x 26 cm (15.6" x 10.4") in diameter. It´s in excellent condition, it is marked as 1st quality. Gunnar Nylu...

Swedish ceramic artist Carl-Harry Stålhane (1920- 1990) played a major role in popularizing Swedish pottery during the 20th century, working for more than three decades at Rörstrand, one of the oldest ceramics manufacturers in Europe. During his long tenure at Rörstrand, Stålhane was responsible for small-batch studio pieces, mass-produced tableware , and all manner of decorative accessories . Born in 1920 in Mariestad, Sweden, Stålhane began working at Rörstrand in 1939 as a decorative painter, assisting Danish-Finnish ceramic artist, designer, and sculptor Gunnar Nylund (1904-1997). During this time, Stålhane decorated various ceramic pieces, most notably Nylund’s Flambé range (1939s), quickly establishing himself as a talented ceramic artist. Inspired by the desire for new products during the postwar economic boom, Stålhane went from being a talented decorator to an exceptional ceramic artist. In 1943, Stålhane caught the eye of Swedish artist Isaac Grünewald (1889-1946), who was visiting Rörstrand. Grünewald was so impressed with Stålhane’s work that he took him on as a student, and from 1943 to 1946, Stålhane studied art at Grünewald's Art School in Stockholm. Subsequently from 1947 until 1948, he studied sculpture at Académie Colarossi in Paris. During the 1950s, Stålhane’s work appeared in several solo exhibitions in Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His Blanca Tableware range (c. 1955) won numerous international prizes and was in high-demand. In 1958, Stålhane succeeded Nylund as Artistic Director and Chief Designer at Rörstrand. In 1960, Stålhane unveiled a new collection at Stockholm’s Galerie Blanche. Featuring dark stoneware pieces made from local clays, this collection represented a bold departure from the soft, restrained shapes of the 1950s. It has since been praised for its precient aesthetic that would influence the look of ceramics for more than a decade. From 1963 until 1971, Stålhane taught ceramics at the Art Industrial School in Gothenburg. For a short time, he also was the Design Director at the Swedish factory Upsala Ekeby, which in addition to porcelain, produced tile, brick, and glass. Stålhane eventually left Rörstrand in 1973 in order to establish his own ceramic company, Designhuset, in Lidköping, where he further experimented with local clays and minerals. Stålhane continued to work until his death in 1990. Today, Designhuset is a school for ceramists and model-makers. Over the course of his career, Stålhane created several public works for The Commerce Trust Company in Kansas City, Missouri, and for Volvo in Gothenburg, Sweden. His work is represented at several international museums, including Stockholm’s Nationalmuseum and New York’s MoMA. Rörstrand is the second oldest brand of ceramics in Europe and can be found in homes all across Sweden and Europe. Rörstrand’s long legacy includes some of Europe’s most iconic ceramics collections including Swedish Grace, Mon Amie, Ostindia, Filippa...

Stoneware ceramic bowl designed by Gunnar Nylund. Manufactured by Rörstrand in Sweden during the 1960s. Part of the "Rubus" series. Ceramic with a light brown mottled matte glaze, nu...