3daysofdesign - saltglazed ceramics from Höganäs
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For several years, as part of 3daysofdesign, the Swedish Embassy in Sankt Annæ Plads has hosted an exhibition about Swedish design or about crafts in Scandinavia in a wider context and also shows the work of a number of Swedish designers or makers.
This year, in the courtyard of the embassy, the industrial designer Kristina Stark, showed traditional salt-glazed pottery from Höganäs - a town that is on the coast just 20 kilometres north of Helsingborg.
Kristina Stark comes from Kullabygden, close to Höganäs, and has designed ceramics that were produced in the town ... including, in 2019, a hand-thrown Höganäs Mug that is marketed under her own brand name.
Höganäs and Helsingborg has a long-established tradition of producing salt-glazed wares along with other ceramics. The pieces shown at the embassy are simple and robust and have the typical colour and surface texture associated with salt glaze. These are utility pieces - sometimes called country ware if it refers to 19th century works - and it has clear forms that come from the materials and from the technical aspects of production but also from the long tradition of producing what was useful for a rural community.
If that sounds dereogatory, that is far from what I meant because this type of pottery is not just functional but restrained and honest and, in it's proportions and simplicity beautiful.
If you visit Danish museums and, in particular Frilandsmuseet - the open air museum north of Copenhagen - then you will see that Denmark has a strong tradition for producing good country wares for farmhouse kitchens, for use in the dairy and for the table. Many of the shapes go back to medieval wares but most would fit happily in a modern kitchen or dining room.
It's not to argue for abandoning modern slip-cast porcelain but it is a suggestion that this more robust pottery could be a starting point to inspire much more and more local production of tableware.
