Angular harmony

Strange as it may sound, the angular tea set forms a harmonious whole. The inspiration from China is evident in both the teapot and the tea caddy, but then china is a Chinese invention, isn't it?

In general, it's impossible to avoid the oriental inspiration in the work of Danish ceramic artists. Gertrud Vasegaard's generation as well as present- day designers have a tendency to look to the East. The affinity with clean-cut Scandinavian functionalism is obvious. In Danish ceramics, Japanese severity is transformed into functional form and sensuous quality. For as a Dane would say, a pot is useless if it can't pour!

First brood of ceramic artists
Gertrud Vasegaard was in the first ceramics class to graduate from the School of Decorative Art in Denmark in 1930. A third-generation potter, she learnt the art of pottery at an early age, and for several years, Gertrud and her sister shared the same career and workshop on the Baltic island of Bornholm. Later on Gertrud's daughter Myre, also trained as a ceramic artist and shared a workshop with her mother.

Unruly dots
Starting in 1945, Vasegaard was on the staff of  the Bing & Grøndahl porcelain factory for ten years. This was where she designed her tea set. The ferruginous clay left small black dots in the glaze of the tea set after firing. Vasegaard insisted on keeping these dots, although it was commonly thought that they were a sign of poor quality. Vasegaard was proved right in the end: the 'imperfections' give life and texture to the set despite their industrial origin. The unruly dots signal that the tea set was shaped by hands - and should be used by hands.

Gertrud Vasegaard is also well-known for her decorative style. Her rhombuses and oblique, angular lines in particular have set a fashion. Her life work and her professional approach to her craft have influenced many contemporary Danish ceramic artists like Ole Jensen, Ursula Munch Petersen and Bodil Manz. Examples of Vasegaard's considerable production are exhibited at the Danish Museum of Art & Design.

Charlotte Jul is design writer and editor at KUNSTUFF, a Danish handicraft and design magazine.