Bing & Grøndahl Christmas plate 1895 Behind the frozen windowpane

Bing & Grøndahl Christmas plate 1895 Behind the frozen windowpane is the beginning of one of the best-known traditions in Danish porcelain. This edition was the first in the series, which began in 1895 as the world's first Christmas plate series, and since then a new plate has been released every year. Precisely for that reason, the 1895 plate holds a very special place both in porcelain history and among collectors of Danish Christmas plates.

Behind the frozen windowpane is an unusual and atmospheric motif. Instead of a classic Christmas scene, one encounters a quiet winter night, where the city's dark silhouette can be seen in the distance under a deep blue sky with small stars. The foreground is covered with large, soft frost patterns, which spread across the windowpane like ice flowers. The motif creates the feeling of standing inside in the warmth and looking out into the cold on Christmas Eve, and it is precisely that experience which gives the plate its particular poetry.

At the top on the front appears the text JULE AFTEN 1895, which emphasizes the character of the edition and anchors the motif in Christmas Eve itself. At the same time, the silhouette on the horizon gives the image a clear urban identity, where towers and domes stand out against the night sky. This makes this first Christmas plate more sensory than narrative and gives it a calm, almost contemplative expression, where light, darkness, and cold work beautifully together.

The motif was drawn by Frederik August Hallin, and it is precisely here that an early artistic approach is seen, where the atmosphere carries the narrative. It is a plate that not only marks the beginning of the series, but also shows how powerfully a simple winter motif can stand when it is executed with assured composition and classic blue-and-white porcelain decoration.

As an early edition, this plate also has great historical interest. Each Bing & Grøndahl Christmas plate was produced in a limited number, and after the year's final firing the mold was destroyed. Thus, production was concluded forever, which makes each edition a closed chapter in the series' long history. For those who appreciate older porcelain with provenance, soul, and collector's value, this first release is a piece of Danish design history that still speaks strongly into a modern home.

Product information:
Brand: Bing & Grøndahl
Artist: Frederik August Hallin
Series: Christmas plates
Edition: 1895
Dimensions: Ø 18 cm
Hanging: Two holes on the back for hanging