On request and initiative from the thrower and figurine-maker
Frederik Vilhelm Grøndahl (FVG), and the two
book-and-art-dealers, the brothers Meyer Herman Bing and Jacob
Herman Bing, Bing & Grondahl was founded on
April 19th 1853.
In sales this factory had big advantages, since Bing & Son
(the bookstore owned by the Bing family) had representatives
travelling all over the country. They now brought along the Bing
and Grondahl products. Having excisted only nine years, Bing &
Groendahl participated in the World Exhibition in London in 1862. A
shop was opened at Amager Torv in 1885 - right next to the Royal
Copenhagen factory. The shop was situated here for 100 years, after
which it was closed when Bing and Grondahl merged with Royal
Copenhagen.
Blue fluted porcelain was painted from 1886.
Royal Copenhagen had a monopoly on the "Blue Fluted" name, and
consequently Bing & Grondahl had to invent another name,
"Bluepainted". Pietro Krohn (PK) was the artistic
leader of Bing & Grondahl from 1885 to 1892. During The
Northern Exhibition in 1888, B&G exhibited a new service with
scales - very popular ever since and the base of many service
decorations today. At the same exhibition, the
"Heron" service was launched. The service set was
produced exclusively in underglaze with gold - a foretaste of the
new "Art Noveau" style. The service was simply made to show off the
peak of B&G's artistic and technical abilities. As with Royal
Copenhagen's Flora Danica, The Heron service is
considered the masterpiece of Bing & Groendahl.
Designed by Fanny Garde the "Seagull"
service was introduced in 1892. The pattern was soon to become
extremely popular throughout Denmark, and was used in one out of
ten homes.
By idea of Harald Bing, son of Jacob Herman Bing, the
world's first Christmas plate "Christmas Eve"was produced
at Bing & Grondahl in 1895. Cautiously B&G started
out with a very small production of this very first plate. When it
showed to be a big sales success, plate productions were started
throughout the world including at Royal Copenhagen. Thus this first
plate set the fashion of the global interest in collectibles. It
became a worldwide craze, and all the manufacturers in the world as
well as organisations produced or had plates produced for any
occasion. No other manufacturer has produced as many plates as Bing
& Grondahl.
Click
here to see complete list of all B&G Christmas plates, with
photos of all Chrismas plates from 1895 - 2008, motif, designers,
link to DPH online shop etc.
The 1895 plate was designed by F. A. Hallin, bringing along the
idea of cutting a plate when he was headhunted from Royal
Copenhagen. Bing & Grondahl has produced thousands of
different plates. From King-plates to Christmas and Easter
plates, Mother's
Day-, plane-, flight, lodge-, jubilee-,
Commemorative-, Church plates and many more. Even B&G
themselves do not know exactly how many have been produced through
the years, as much material was destroyed during a fire in their
archives.
Successor of Pietro Krohn was J. F. Willumsen (JFW), engaged as
artistic leader in 1897 to 1900. Also J. P. Dahl Jensen was engaged
in 1897. He was the modelling master from 1897 to 1917 - modelling
several figurines on behalf of Bing and Grondahl. Willumsen was
hired to secure a success at the Paris World Exhibition 1900.
Exactly this exhibition gave Bing & Groendahl the international
breakthrought they had hoped for. A few years following JFW's
resignation, the factory worked without an artistic leader, but
curiously those are the years when the Bing & Groendahl
financial foundation was created.
The Dahl Jensen underglaze figurines of birds,
animals and people ,as well as the Seagull-, the Butterfly-, the
empire- and the Blue Painted- service sets were the basis of the
Bing & Groendahl financial success."The
Empire"-service was launched
in 1904. It was designed by Harriet Bing - wife of the general
manager at B&G.
The wellknown Knud
Kyhn created his first stoneware-figurine - a duck -
on behalf of B&G in 1913. His production of stoneware-figurines
at B&G was vast. Probably his small or big, darkbrown stoneware
figurines of for example bears, are the most renowned.
The wild and original unglazed porcelain figurines by
Gaugain's hand was among the news in B&G's
exhibition at the Paris World Exhibition 1925. Also displaying the
sculpturel Kai Nielsen figurines in white
porcelain as well as the Axel Salto's soft porcelain and stoneware.
The exhibition granted Bing and Groendahl big artistic and
financial success as well as international attention.Further a
result of the exhibition was the co-operation with the craftsman
Ebbe Sadolin (EB). EB designed a number of service sets for
B&G. For example the "Lovfald" and the"Demeter", painted in
decorations of Ove Larsen. His service "The Milkyway" was
introduced in 1942. It was decorated with brown lines with a golden
rim, and the surface was sprinkled with small goldstars. The famous
"Bodil" statuette, awarded to
outstanding Danish film-persons each year, was alsocreated by Ebbe
Sadolin.
The Christmas Rose service was presented in
1936, by design of Cecilie Louise Hallin and her husband F. A.
Hallin (the designer of the world's first Christmas plate
"Christmas Eve".)
In the figurative language of the postwar years, it was said in
the 1920'ties that in the mutual relationship between Bing &
Grondahl and The Royal Porcelain Factory, RC delivered to the
madams in fur, while B&G delivered to the university graduates
in fleecy coats. The primal customers of RC was still the Royal
family and the upper middle class, while B&G sold to the
culture radical élite. B&G merged with The Royal
Porcelain Factory in 1987, and subsequently
their mutual name became Royal
Copenhagen.
When the two factories became Royal Copenhagen, Bing &
Grondahl had the biggest earnings of the two. For instance Bing and
Grondael was Royal purveyor to his Majesty the King of Sweden. Yet
the Bing & Groendahl name disappeared almost immediately. Today
the illustrious name only lives on in plates and other collectibles
being released every year, around Christmas time especially .All
other products originally manufactured by B&G and still in
production, is now stamped with the Royal Copenhagen hallmark.
The factory has, among others, in Denmark and USA been known to
produce porcelain and figurines in a quality just as good as Royal
Copenhagen's. The knowledge of B&G is limited in most
countries, as Danish porcelain is synonymous with Royal Copenhagen
to most people. Since Royal Copenhagen is the name under which The
Royal Porcelain Factory has always been marketed internationally,
it is no wonder that many foreigners have never heard of Bing &
Grondahl. Additionally both factories have, since the merger, been
marketed under the Royal Copenhagen brand. The Japanese especially,
who are also royalists, and did not purchase Danish porcelain
untill the late 90'ties, exclusively buy Royal Copenhagen.
Bing & Grondahl
On request and initiative from the thrower and figurine-maker
Frederik Vilhelm Grøndahl (FVG) and the two book-
and art- dealers, the brothers Meyer Herman Bing and Jacob
Herman Bing, Bing & Groendahl was founded on April 19th
1853.
A modern factorybuilding was built on Vesterbrogade 149
(Copenhagen, Denmark) - then outside the city. FVG used to work for
the Royal Copenhagen Factory (RC), but gave his notice, when RC
refused to produce bisquit-figurines modelled from the sculptures
of Thorvaldsen.
In sales the factory had big advantages, as Bing & Son (the
bookstore owned by the Bing family) already had representatives
travelling all over the country. Now they brought along the Bing
and Grondahl products. It thus became possible for the entire
population for the first time to buy tableware and porcelain
figurines. The representative brought along blank models of all the
porcelain service sets as well as handpainted decoration books.
People could then choose the service set and combine it with the
decoration pattern of their choice. When the representative
returned the following year he brought along the new dinner and/or
coffee set.
A fateful vacuum arose on the factory following the sudden death
of Frederik Vilhelm Groendahl, only 37 year old, in 1856.
Fortunately the overpainter Andreas Juuel, former pupil of the
empire-architect G. F. Hetsch, had the capacity to lead Bing and
Grondahl safely through the initial difficulties.
Initially the factory had a big production of dinner and coffee
sets with flowers - many different flowers in various colours,
painted polychromely. The style was known as Saxon
flower. The porcelain painters, immigrating from Nürnberg,
Germany especially, were specialists in exactly this technique.
B&G acquired knowledge of the underglaze-painting technique in
various nuances by 1886. The advantege of the underglaze-technique,
which the factory had used all along, was that the decoration was
protectedby the glaze, thus not being as exposed to wear and tear,
as the overglaze-decorations. Moreover the patterns could be
painted directly on the item right after the first burn. Hereby
reducing the number of burns to two, thus saving time as well as
money. A further advantage was the different glow and gloss in the
colours.
By 1860 B&G introduced the service set "Don
Juan". A handsomely swung setin round shapes with
decorations in red, yellow and gold. The set was renewed with
re-shaped coffee cups done by Ebbe Sadolin in 1948 to 1952. Having
excisted only nine years, Bing & Grondahl participated in the
World Exhibition in London in 1862. Christian
Hansen contributed with the
"Oldenburg"service and Heinrich Hansen with a
Coffee set in the Renaissance styl of Christian the 4th. The
Exhibition brought succes, also for the vases and bisquit
figurines. The same year Heinrich Hansen introduced the
Offenbach coffee-set, which became so popular that
it was later also made as a dinner set. The "Offenback" was given
to Christian the 10th and Alexandrine at their wedding in 1898, and
it was therefore also called the "Crownprince-service".
The painter Heinrich Hansen (HH) was artistic leader from 1868 -
specializingin interior pictures. HH created a beautifully
decorated service set with gold and flowers for "The Scandinavian
Exhibition" in Copenhagen (1872). He called it
"Rosenborg" because he had been greatly inspired
by a Meissen-set that he had seen at an exhibition at the Rosenborg
Castle. A shop was opened at Amager Torv in 1885 - right next to
the Royal Copenhagen factory. The shop was situated here for 100
years, after which it was closed when B & G merged with Royal
Copenhagen.
Blue fluted porcelain was painted from 1886. Royal Copenhagen
had monopoly on the "Blue Fluted" name, so B&G used the name
"Bluepainted". Originally it was painted on ribbed
porcelain, but later it was also available on the popular new
service with dolphins and sea horses as handles on sauce boats and
tureens.
Pietro Krohn (educated at the Royal Academy of
Art) was artistic leader at Bing and Grondahl from 1885 to 1892.
During The Northern Exhibition in 1888, B&G exhibited a new
service with scales - very popular ever since and the base of many
service decorations today. At the same exhibition, the
"Heron" service was launched - attracting big attention.
The service set was produced exclusively in underglaze with gold -
a foretaste of the new "ArtNoveau" style. The service was simply
made to show off the peak of B&G's artistic and technical
abilities. As with Royal Copenhagen's Flora Danica, The
Heron service is considered masterpiece of Bing &
Groendahl. The shape as well as the decoration was considered
almost revolutionary. The Heron was also exhibited at the World
Exhibition 1889 in Paris, where parts of the service was
immediately bought by museums and private collectors from all over
the world.
To decorate the Heron service, the two female artists
Fanny Garde and Effie Hegermann-Lindencrone were
engaged. Pietro Krohn had taught both women at "The Klein
Industrial Drawing and Art School for Women". They were both
engaged as decoration painters, but as time went by they personally
designed new models that they wanted to decorate. The two women had
a close co-operation, sharing the same studio, and they later lived
and travelled together.
The "Butterfly" service was introduced in the
late 1880'ties. Like the blue painted service, this was produced in
various versions. With a golden edge it was called "Kipling" and
with blue scales it was called "Dickens". By design of Fanny Garde
the "Seagull" service was introduced in 1892. The
coffee and dinner set was an expression of Fanny's discreet "Art
Noveau"style. A few generations later it was given the name
"National Service of Denmark" as it was to be found in every tenth
home throughout the country.T he set is produced with and without
golden rim. Today the "Seagull" service is the only service set
still produced out of the entire original Bing and Grondahl service
production.
As hallmark Bing & Groendahl chose "The Three
Towers" in 1898 - an ancient symbol of Copenhagen,
originating from Absalon's Castle. This is the same symbol used in
the Copenhagen City Arms. (Bishop Absalon founded Copenhagen in
1167). The brand has been used with several different inscriptions
through the years.
Successor of Pietro Krohn was J. F. Willumsen
(JFW), engaged as artistic leader in 1897 to 1900. Despite the fact
that he only modelled one figurine during his entire engagement -
namely "The Bathing Boy"(now placed at the ceremonial hall at the
Copenhagen City Hall), he was continuously a huge inspiration to
the workers and artists of RC.
In 1897 the sculptor Axel Locher started at
Bing & Grondahl. In close co-operation with Willumsen, he
created several monumental vases, such as The Wood Cutter vase
(Fall). JFW made numerous experiments with multi-colours and
arranging white and coloured surfaces. He discovered the metallike
ironoxide-glaze varying from deep ironred to light bronze.
During the leadership af Willumsen also Svend Hammershoj
produced at the factory - vases especially. J. P. Dahl
Jensen too was engaged in 1897. He was a modelling master
from 1897 to 1917 - modelling several figurines on behalf of
B&G. Willumsen was engaged to secure a success at the Paris
World Exhibition 1900. Exactly this exhibition gave Bing &
Groendahl the international breakthrough they had hoped for.
The period with Willumsen being prestigious, earnings however
had not beenbig. A few years following his resignation, the factory
worked without an artistic leader, but curiously those are the
years when the B&G dinancial foundation was created.
The Dahl Jensen underglaze figurines of birds,
animals and people, as well as the Seagull-, the Butterfly-, the
empire- and the Bluepainted-service sets were the basis of the Bing
& Grondahl finances.
"The Empire"-service was
launched in 1904. It was designed by Harriet Bing - Architect Carl
Petersen was engaged as artistic consultant in 1912. He had a
strong passion for stoneware, the shapes, ornaments and glazes that
the stoneware caused. The wellknown Knud Kyhn created his
first stoneware figurine - a duck - on behalf of Bing
& Grondahl in 1913. Kyhn had a preference for wildlife- birds
especially. His production of stoneware figurines at B&G was
vast. Probably his small or big, darkbrown stoneware figurines of
for example bears, are the most well-known.
"Norden" - a subsidiary of Bing &
Groendahl, was founded in 1916. It produced porcelain articles to
be used in the rapidly increasing electricity market. The products
ranging from Telegraf-isolators to electricity bells etc. This
enterprise further establishing B&G's sound economy. As the
first general manager of "Norden" Dahl Jensen was engaged from 1917
to 1925. The Frenchman Jean René Gauguin was
employed by Bing & Grondahl for a generation. He was as a
totally autodidact inspired and supported by his friend Kai
Nielsen. He started in October 1923 as a permanently
employed artist, creating unglazed porcelain- and
stoneware-sculptures. Most reputed is probably his many sculptures
in the special stoneware-mass that he called "Roche Céramique".
Moreover he was the first to introduce faience at B&G. In 1927
he created 10 expressionistic giant-sculptures representing animals
and people. His brother Pola did the enamel decorations of the
sculptures.
Experiments in "Soft" porcelain was done by Axel
Salto during the years 1923-1925. The delicate subdued
glazes gave the products a silk-like expression.The sculptor Kai
Nielsen created 40 models for porcelain figurines in that period -
before his unexpected death in 1924. The wild and original unglazed
porcelain figurines from Gaugain's hand was among the news in Bing
and Grondahl's exhibition at the Paris World Exhibition 1925. Also
displaying the sculpturel Kai Nielsen figurines in white porcelain
as well as the Axel Salto's soft porcelain and stoneware. The
exhibition granted B&G big artistic and economic success as
well as international attention.
Another result of the exhibition was the co-operation with the
craftsman Ebbe Sadolin. Ebbe Sadolin (EB) was very
inventive in designing figurines, vases, servise sets etc.. He was
permanetly engaged two years after the exhibition. His specialty
was the shapes. He left decorations to others, except for the
glazing of relief-patterns. EB did at lot of experimenting with
colours, gloss and dispersion when used on relief products and
quickly developed a preference for dull glazes. The work involved
in designing and creating a service set is extensive and expensive,
none the less Ebbe Sadolin designed a number of service sets for
B&G,for example the "Lovfald" and the "Demeter", painted with
decorations by Ove Larsen. His service "The Milkyway" was
introduced in 1942. It was decorated with brown lines with a golden
rim, and the surface was sprinkled with small gold stars. The
famous "Bodil" statuette, awarded
each year to outstanding danish film persons was created by Ebbe
Sadolin. Ebbe Sadolin had a major influence on the development of
B&G. He stayed with the company, but from the mid-thirties he
also engaged in illustrating magazines. In 1977 he celebrated his
50 years anniversary with Bing & Groendahl.
The Christmas Rose service was presented in
1936, by design of Cecilie Louise Hallin and her husband F. A.
Hallin (the designer of the world's first Christmas plate
"Christmas Eve".).
At request of artistic consultant Aksel Rode, Gertrud
Vasegaard - ceramic artist and daughter of Hans Adolph
Hjorth (Hjorth's Factory, Ronne) - was engaged for guest
performances at Bing & Groendahl during the winter months of
1945 to 1948 while working in her own workshop in Gudhjem the rest
of the year. This double life ended in 1949, when she became part
of the permanent staff. Her specialty at Bing & Grondahl became
the stoneware. Aksel Rode developed a number of new glazes
specially for her. Her unique ceramic talent was displayed, and she
became very significant to the future of the factory. The style she
fostered, begun a new era in the history of stoneware. Her
engagement at B&G lasted for 10 years, after which she started
a workshop in cooperation with her daughter Myra and Aksel Rode,
who had then become her husband.
At the request of artistic consultant Asger
Fisher (Manager of "Den Permanente"). He came to be the
big innovator and developer of design and products up through the
60'ties and 70'ties. Through his potter background and his
technical sense he had the gift of designing for production. It was
in his nature to create functional and simple things, extremely
suitable for their purposes. EM startet out with designing
the"Form 679" service - only including 11 pieces,
the selection cut down to an absolute minimum. Later followed the
"Hank" service including 18 pieces - his first
production with other colours than white.
In the figurative language of the post war years, it was said in
the 1920'ties that in the mutual relationship between Bing &
Grondahl and The Royal Porcelain Factory, RC sold to the madams in
furs, whereas B&G sold to the university graduates in fleecy
coats. The primaary customer of RC was still the Royal family and
the upper middle class, whereas Bing & Grondahl sold to the
culture radical élite. Allthough the core business of B&G was
bisquit figurines, they have continuously produced a wide
selection of figurines, plates and service sets. Their
production quickly grew very extensive. To survive in competition
with RC, Bing and Groendalh soon realised that to engage with
leading artists and designers of the time paid off. This attitude
has been characteristic of Bing & Grondahl throughout the
entire existence of the factory.
This attitude was displayed in the stoneware
production initiating around 1912. The artists were given
extremely free hands, and Bing & Groendahl deliberately
concentrated on providing a creative and stimulating artistic
environment. No questions were asked as to whether a product or an
experiment was worthwhile. Potential results were just awaited
calmly.
B&G merged with The Royal Porcelain Factory in 1987,
after which the mutual name became Royal Copenhagen. When
the two factories became Royal Copenhagen, Bing & Grondahl had
the biggest earnings of the two, with major exports, primalily to
Sweden. For instance Bing & Grondahl was Royal purveyor to his
Majesty the King of Sweden. Yet the Bing & Groendahl name
disappeared almost immediately after the merger. Today the
illustrious name only lives on in plates and other collectibles
being released every year, around Christmas time mainly. All other
products originally manufactured by B&G and still in
production, is now stamped with the Royal Copenhagen hallmark. It
is difficult to establish whether a product is originally
manufactured by one or the other factory.
Bing & Grondahl has through the years been Royal purveyors
to Russia, Sweden, Denmark and Great Britain. In Denmark and the
USA, the factory has been known to produce porcelain and figurines
of a quality just as good as Royal Copenhagen's. In most of the
world, the knowledge of Bing & Grondahl is very limited, as
Danish porcelain is synonymous with Royal Copenhagen to most
people. Royal Copenhagen is the name under which The Royal
Porcelain Factory has always been marketed internationally, so many
foreigners have never heard about B&G. Additionally both
factories have, since the merger, been marketed under the Royal
name. The Japanese especially, who are also royalists, and who did
not purchase Danish porcelain untill the late 90'ties, buy Royal
Copenhagen, exclusively.