Window displays in most shops along the Stroget, Copenhagen’s famous pedestrian-only shopping street, confirm expectations about Danish design: Sleek, chic, modern furniture positioned next to elegantly simple porcelain, silver and electronic goods.
But Bjorn Wiinblads Hus, just off Stroget at 11 Ny Ostegade, looks as though it had been lifted from an illustrated edition of “The Arabian Nights.”
The shop displays the works of one of Denmark’s best-known contemporary designers, Bjorn Wiinblads.
Wiinblads designs fanciful ceramic and porcelain figurines: princes, princesses, pashas, veiled ladies, handsome youths, idyllic maidens, elephants and other animals.
Some stand 3 or 4 feet tall, others are diminutive enough to serve as candleholders, vases and centerpieces. The figures have round, wide-eyed faces and pixilated smiles. Their clothing and pedestals are decorated with floral and geometric patterns reminiscent of backgrounds found in Persian miniatures.
Wiinblads also draws his enchanting characters on tiles, table wares, drinking glasses, pitchers, fabrics, tapestries, posters and other home decorator items.
The shop is an elegant little house, with Wiinblads creations displayed throughout several rooms and levels.
There are one-of-a-kind objects, including elaborate tiled fountains built into patios decked with plants in large Wiinblads planters. Constantly recycled water babbles in the background.
Wiinblads, hailing from a family of writers and journalists, acknowledges many of his themes are taken from literary sources, including “The Arabian Nights,” “The Magic Flute” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.
Wiinblads’ tableware very often visually tells a story, or depicts a segment of one, thereby adding another dimension of entertainment to dining.
Wiinblads ceramics are sold in selected stores in Copenhagen and around the world, but no retail collection is as comprehensive as that in Bjorn Wiinblads Hus.
Wiinblads painted his first porcelain pieces when he was 11. His first exhibition was during the final months of World War II. As borders across Europe were reopened, Wiinblads, working in heavy ceramics decorated with bold colors, exhibited internationally. In 1946 Wiinblads began a collaboration with Nymolle, a small faience factory, to manufacture tableware with monochrome line drawings, some still in production. Wiinblads’ palette has changed frequently, but always employs the fabulous characters that are his trademark.
In 1957 Wiinblads began working with Rosenthal, a German porcelain and glass factory. Designs include a porcelain “Magic Flute” series, the “Til Eulenspiegel” ceramics series, the “Tulipa” candlesticks and “Romance” and “Lotus” tableware. Wiinblads also designs Rosenthal’s annual Christmas plates.
In his Copenhagen workshop, Wiinblads develops new products and makes one-of-a-kind pieces for sale exclusively in Bjorn Wiinblads Hus and commissioned designs, such as dinnerware for royalty, fabrics for textile factories and tapestries to be executed by Portuguese weavers.
Thankfully not all items are exclusive and expensive. Six- by 6-inch tiles cost $9 each, figurine candlesticks are $190 each and three-piece bed linen sets (sheet, blanket cover and pillow case) go for about $100. As a tourist, you can obtain a 16 percent tax rebate. Greeting cards cost 55 cents to $4 each and posters start at $20.
More extravagant items include sets of four 3-foot blue and white figurines costing $1,200, and a large fountain/statue at $18,000. If these items were available elsewhere, they would cost about 30 percent more.
Browsing in Bjorn Wiinblads Hus is free, and the experience of being in this delightful environment is priceless.
Prices quoted reflect currency exchange rates at time of writing. –
