Orrefors Gallery - 1982-1983

Description

Orrefors Gallery 1982-1983
is a catalog of the Orrefors glassware products available during the selling season of 1982-1983.
Orrefors glassworks
(also known as just
Orrefors
) is a
glassworks
in
t
he
Swedish
village
Orrefors
in
Sm
a
land
. Orrefors manufactured crystal glassware and art glass. The range consisted of crystal stemware, barware, vases, and sculptures and lighting products in crystal. The glassworks in Orrefors closed in 2012.
Orrefors was a part of the Swedish glassworks group
Orrefors Kosta Boda AB.
The book, which measures approximately 7 ¾ x 7 ¾ inches, contains 142 pages of text and black&white and colored photos that show:
The History of Orrefors – 4 pages
97 full page glossy B&W and color photos of items for sale
Biographies and photos of the Orrefors Artists and Craftsmen - 30 pages
Methods of Craftsmenship at Orrefors – 4 pages
In addition,
laid
in to the book is a 4-page listing of all the items for sale, with their retail prices.
Prices range from 0 into the thousands, including the Tree of Life platter at ,150 and Summer Dream at ,000. Prices may have changed since 1982-1983, but this catalog is
still
a guide to compare the expensive pieces with the more expensive ones.
The book is printed on glossy paper and bound in stiff paper covers. There is some slight separation of the covers from the book, but the overall quality of the book is very good.
The illustrations above provide an insight to the contents and quality of the book. They are:
The front cover
Five (5) typical 2-page spreads
One 2-page spread showing an Orrefors Artist/Crasftsman
One 2-page spread showing methods used in crafting Orrefors products.
T
he Orrefors glassworks were founded in 1898 on the site of an older iron works. Up until 1913, the company produced mainly window glass and bottles. When Consul Johan Ekman bought the factory in 1913, Orrefors started to produce drinking glasses, vases and other house-ware items. Ekman hired the brothers Eugen and Knut Bergkvist, who had worked at
Kosta Boda
before, as well as Fritz Blomqvist and Heinrich Wollman. Wollman originated from Bohemia, which had a long tradition in glassmaking. The first attempts at art glass making were in the style of the at the time famous French glassworks such Daum and Gallé.
A
similar technique was devised in 1936 which trapped air within the walls of the glass. This was known as Ariel, a name of a character in
Shakespeare’s
The Tempest
. A major influence of theirs was the
Art Nouveau
work of the
French
artist
Émile Gallé
.
T
heir designs use characteristic clean lines of brilliant crystal that suggests a frozen liquid. Their work was greatly admired when it was displayed to a wide audience at the
Paris
Exhibition of 1925. In addition to individual pieces of crystal, the company made crystal stemware. The glass house came to be a leading producer during the interwar period.
In more recent times the factory has also become noted for its
chandelier
-making. Many of the older designs were still produced in the 21st century. Since 2013, the building has been home to the
"
Per Ekström Museet
"
; an art museum.
[Wikipedia]