 |
| Krenit Salad Bowl |
Some Danish
designs do indeed become classics, but it is nevertheless surprising to find
that a modest salad bowl which has been in one’s possession for a lifetime
might be worth quite a bit if only it had been in good-as-new condition.
The Krenit salad
bowl in question is the kind that Herbert Krenchel designed in 1953 and which
remained in production until 1965. At the Rocket Gallery in the Tea Building at
56 Shoreditch High Street, London E1, there is currently (until 5 November) an
exhibition of 75 brightly coloured bowls, all in pristine condition, at prices
ranging from £175 to £750 depending on size.
The owner of
Rocket, Jonathan Stephenson, once came across one of those bowls in an antique
shop when he was visiting Copenhagen
and – in his own words – ‘became addicted’. He bought that bowl, met Herbert
Krenchel and decided to keep looking for more of those bowls round the world.
Some were found as far away as USA.
Herbert Krenchel
was not a designer as such, but a professor of mechanical engineering at the
Technical University of Denmark. He nevertheless designed the Krenit bowl which
won a gold medal at the 1954 Milan Triennale. The exterior of the bowl is
black, with a matt finish, the inside a glossy enamel in a strong colour such
as red, lime green, blue, grey or white and there are different shapes and
different sizes. The sale of the bowls took off when Krenchel got in touch with
Torben Ørskov who ran a series of shops called Form & Farve, selling
well-designed domestic products.
Dotted around the
exhibition are some Danish design chairs and tables and on the walls are new
paintings by David James Smith, thus juxtaposing contemporary painting and
mid-century design. It is the first time such a range of bowls has been shown
anywhere and Jonathan Stephenson has another exhibition of Danish designs
coming up from 8 December till February 2007. It is called A Celebration of
mid-century Danish Design through the books, photographs, drawings, objects and
furniture of Arne Jacobsen, Jørn Utzon, Hans J. Wegner, Poul Kjærholm, Herbert
Kranchel and Keld Helmer-Petersen.
This exhibition
will also be in the Tea
Building (thus called
because tea used to be stored there) at 56 Shoreditch High Street, a few minutes’
walk from Liverpool Street Station. Please note that the entrance to Rocket is
around the corner, away from the High Street. Open Tues to Fri 10-6 &
Sat/Sun 12-6.
Lene Orchard
