A beautiful oblong dish from Sweden. Produced in the 1950s by Gabriel Keramik.
Gabriel have a long history in Swedish ceramics, the company was formed in 1925 by Gabriel Burmeister, who had studied art and design before following apprenticeship in ceramics, working across Europe before settling back in Sweden.
Eventually he bought the Tillinge Fajansfabrik ceramic company in 1925, a company with a century old history, he retained the craftsman and brought in many of young Nordic designers: from Marianne Westman,to Åke Aronsson. Many of whom went on to have successful careers at Rorstrand, and became influential Scandinavian designers.
The Midcentury was a successful period for the Gabriel company - the work produced was seen to have a more Danish aesthetic than Swedish. A bias represented in this example of the Modernist designs produced at the time.
The rich, earthy glaze is a defining attribute of the companies ceramic production: the dark and tactile glaze on a yellow ground is a mixture of rust and clay!
Ships were serviced and repaired at a local docks, and when they were in port they chipped away rust from the bottoms of the ships and in this way iron oxide could be extracted. ‘It was then ground down to a fine powder which was then mixed into the glaze. Rust and glaze then fused together during firing and assumed the special flowing brown-black colour’
The dish was likely designed by Åke Aronsson, who enjoyed the rustic aesthetic of the Gabriel glazes.
It is a beautiful piece of Scandinavian design history, and a very tactile, rich, object too.
Makers mark on base.
Dimensions:
L: 29cm
W: 13cm
H: 2.5cm