Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Design Spotlight: Vintage Berggren Ceramic Wall Hangings

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Artists Audrey and Arthur Berggren founded a gift products and home wares company in 1948 located in Libertyville, Illinois. That company, eventually known as the Berggren Shelton Trayner Corporation, produced decorative hand screened ceramic tiles, and enamelware decorated with decals in the Swedish folk tradition style known as 'Dalmalningar'. The Berggrens proudly specialized in developing reproduction techniques in which patterns and colors of a uniquely Scandinavian folk art style were faithfully recreated on a variety of home products such as cookware, cutting boards, porcelain, china, and of course ceramic tiles.

The Berggrens' products were sold in many specialty and gift shops, as well as large department stores such as Carson, Pirie, Scott, and Marshall Field's. In 1953, the Chicago Tribune announced that Berggren Trayner was commissioned to reproduce the works of the famous painter Grandma Moses, and at least one of those pieces resides today in the collection of the New York Historical Society. 

In 1986 Bergquist Imports Incorporated bought Berggren Trayner and moved operations and manufacturing to Cloquet, Minnesota the following year. It is still in operation today, and continues to sell Swedish style wares under the Berggren Trayner brand name. 

Although my collection of vintage Berggren Trayner ceramics is just the three pieces shown above, it is clear, when placed together, that the consistency and vibrancy of the colors used are of craftsmanship quality. For me, these are decorative items, but they have had prior use and constant exposure to light - even so, those vibrant colors and the ceramics and porcelain have stood the test of time rather well.  

Common among the three pieces are whimsical floral patterns, white backgrounds, and the use of black outlines which adds detail; as well, they all have dual functions, as either decorative wall hangings or as trivets and plates. The two square tiles, both measuring 6 inches, have very similar stylistic themes and each has a folk saying written in Swedish. Here's a closer look:

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The translation for the saying on the above tile is "The road to a good friend is short", and you can see the Berggren signature on the right edge, next to the green building. 

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'Welcome to our home' is the translation for this second tile, which also has the trademark signature on the right. It's interesting how the simple, straightforward colors of red, yellow, blue, and green provide a striking color burst against the white tiles. Furthermore, the array of many tiny details in the patterned borders give the eye plenty of detail to look at, and the fanciful treatment of the large floral sprays are what really spark a warm, whimsical feeling.  

In contrast to the above square tiles is this circular porcelain or china plate, where the absence of blue in no way diminishes from the interest of colors used (the same red, yellow and green as in the tiles above), and its ornate, dynamic motif lends an energetic, organic impression:

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The Berggren name appears on this piece as well, albeit in very tiny letters on the bottom left.  

Do you enjoy collecting any vintage home wares?  Feel free to leave me a comment and tell me about it! And if you are interested in seeing more vintage Berggren home wares, you may like to visit my Pinterest page here.

Thank you for reading!


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Thursday, January 21, 2016

Weekend Life: Happy New Year

Happy New Year, Fiestaware vase, Fiestaware bud vase, Fiestaware Shamrock bud vase, Fiestaware Pearl grey bud vase, vintage kitchen

Hi Friends! I'm happy to be back in the blog world again, now that the long Christmas holiday season is over and the New Year is in full swing. I've been taking it easy for a couple weeks now, and I'm finally feeling rested up and recovered from all the extra activity of the holidays. However, I already miss those enjoyable quiet moments snuggled up on the couch watching movies with my family - an activity we really only take part in at Christmas time.

Happy New Year, Fiestaware bud vase, Fiestaware Shamrock bud vase, Fiestaware Pearl Grey bud vase, vintage salt and pepper shakers, fresh flowers

There's nothing quite like a three day weekend! This past week included the Monday holiday Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It is a day set aside here in the United States to honor the work of Dr. King, a civil rights activist in the 1950s and 60s.

Three days off work instead of the usual two, allowed me the chance to finally clear up all the household bits and pieces that got neglected during the holidays, as well as donate unwanted items and clothing, and sell an old desk. My art studio is part of what used to be our garage (here in the US, most houses have a space to store an automobile, which we call a "garage") and it too needed some organizational attention. Once that was done, I was able to work on some art pieces I've been excited about, in preparation for an upcoming spring show. I also dove into a long neglected pocket-style photo album project - here's a look at one of the spreads I finished in that album, featuring a few of my Instagram photos from the spring of last year:

Simple Stories, Studio Calico, Jilly Bean Soup, Webster's Pages, pocket scrapbook, 6" x 8" pocket scrapbook

I also took some time to finish reading The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan. My daughter Audrey, who is an avid reader and lover of fiction, gifted this book to me for Christmas. Coincidentally, I found the Studio Calico 'Book Review' journaling card (shown bottom left) in my stash when I was working on my pocket album. Once I finish writing out my thoughts about the book, the journaling card will be a nice addition to my pocket album, paired with this photo:

Amy Tan, The Bonesetter's Daughter, lily, lilies, Studio Calico journaling card, Fiestaware mug, Fiestaware White mug, read a book, journal about a book, black coffee, coffee

This month marks the second year for the Under The Plum Blossom Tree blog. I have enjoyed sharing my various interests here, and am grateful to those of you that have taken the time to read about them. I have some plans in the works for the coming year: I'd like to give the blog a new, more polished look, so I am looking at blog formatting options right now; also, I will be selling a Plum Blossom exclusive product, handmade by me. So I hope you will stayed tuned!

You can follow me by email here on the blog (see the widget for that in the right sidebar), and Blogger will send you a notification.  

As always, thanks for reading!
  
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