Three Scandinavian Opaline Glass Vases by Jacob E. Bang for “Kastrup-Holmegaard”, Denmark 1960s

Name: "Opaline form", glass vase
Style: Vintage, Scandinavian Modern
Color: purple/opal/turquoise

Height: 32 cm // 12.59 in
Diameter neck: 5 cm // 1.96 in
Diameter base: 11 cm // 4.33 in
Weight: 581 grams // 1.28 lbs

Condition: Very Good - This vintage/antique item has no defects, but it may show slight traces of use
Signed: Not applied on this collection
Year: 1960

The price is for all 3 vases.

About the designer:
Jacob Eiler Bang (born 19 December 1899 in Frederiksberg, died 16 March 1965 in Kongens Lyngby) was one of Denmark's greatest glass designers. Upon his employment at Holmegaard Glasværk in 1928, he started functionalism within Danish glass design - under the motto "Beautiful, strong, expedient and cheap".

Jacob E. Bang's glass designs, at once vernacular and virtuosic, achieved great recognition and popularity, and today many of his works have become style icons and collectors' items. As early as 1928, Bang designed the famous Viol series, and two years later he created the ground-breaking Primula series in the color smoke topaz, which consisted of as many as 100 different models. In the 50s, several pioneering colored glass series followed in various shades of green, blue and opal white, which set the standard for modern glass.

Originally trained as an architect, Bang managed to design only a few buildings before consistently shifting his focus to applied art design.

Among Jacob E. Bang's best-known designs are the beautiful glass services Viol and Primula, whose graceful lightness and douce color tones are typical of the simple and functional style of the interwar period. At the same time, they bear witness to the demand of the time for elegant, modern wine services for the festive table. He designed the glass service Viol (1928) for Holmegaard in his first years at the glassworks. There were 54 individual parts, and characteristic of the service is the five-part knob on the stem. In 1930, his second large glass service Primula of 100 pieces was added. Primula was in the 1930s fashion color smoky topaz and strongly inspired by the Swedish Sandviks Glasbruk soda glass from the 1920s.+

In 1934, the Swedish engraver Elving Runemalm started at Holmegaard. He came from Orrefors Glasbruk in Sweden, and after instructions from Jacob E. Bang, he engraved glass in the art deco style. Often figures, but also delicate tendrils, stars or abstract lines. At the same time, Holmegaard took up a new niche - the engraved art glass for special occasions or with company logos.

But Jacob E. Bang also strove to make glass for the ordinary Dane. In the publication Glasset i Hjemmetfra 1949, he writes that "The everyday glass must be appropriate, strong, cheap and then finally also beautiful''. 1 An example is the Hogla beer glass from 1928, which has become a classic and has since been redesigned at the beginning of 1950s. Hogla (an abbreviation of Holmegaard Glas) was inspired by an ordinary porter glass from Holmegaard. The simple, functional beer glass was thus a further development and refinement of the shape continues its course in an unbroken line down to the foot, where it stops at the bead. It should not be "… the Magnificent Cup for the Rockefeller, but the Beer Glass for Denmark's Hansen".

Before plastic and cardboard packaging came on the market, glass was the material used to store food and liquids. Jacob E. Bang is behind countless anonymous packaging glasses for storing food and drinks. For example, in 1936 he designed the well-known octagonal ketchup bottle for Bähnke, and the salt shaker from the Broksø series in pressed glass is probably also known to many Danes.

Over the years, Jacob E. Bang tried out different techniques in the glass, which can be seen in his larger vases and jars, among other things. In the 1930s, for example, Jacob E. Bang reverted to an old tradition of bottle makers of putting a seal on the glasses, but in his case it was used as a decorative motif.

Jacob E. Bang left Holmegaard in 1942. After a break from glass design of around 15 years, Jacob E. Bang became artistic director at Kastrup Glasværk from 1957.

Jacob E. Bang's two sons Michael Bang and Joachim Bang are glass designers and sculptors respectively.

About glass manufacturer Holmegaard (Kastrup Glassworks):

Holmegaard, originally established in 1825, is Denmark's oldest and largest glass manufacturer. Although much of its early work is thought to be derivative and inconsequential, between the 1930s and 1980s, the designs of Jacob E. Bang, Per Lütken, and Bang's son, Michael are considered to have transformed the company into a powerhouse of Danish design.

The company's origins began when Christian Danneskiold-Samsøe, a Danish count, petitioned the King of Denmark for permission to establish a glass factory. Shortly after the Count's death in 1823, permission was granted to his widow Countess Henriette Danneskiold-Samsøe. In 1825 she established a glass factory in Fensmark. The factory was built in the Holmegaard book, the peat from which provided enough fuel available to produce the high temperatures required for the glass kiln. In the beginning the factory produced only green bottles, but soon began producing translucent glass tumblers and other tableware in the 1830s, at the Countess' behest believing every Dane should have a beautiful drinking glass.

In 1928, Holmegaard welcomed its first designer, Jacob Eiler Bang (1899-1965). Originally trained as an architect, but due to his work for Holmegaard, became known as Denmark's first industrial designer and the creator of functionalism in Danish glassware. His design mantra, "beautiful, strong, practical, and cheap," formed the basis for Holmegaard's own mission statement: "Every Dane should be given the opportunity to own a Holmegaard glass." In the 1920s, Bang's functionalist designs received significant acclaim at several international exhibitions, which helped Holmegaard emerge from serious financial trouble. During his time at the glass factory, Bang designed countless products that have now become collector's items including the 54-piece Kunstglasservice (1928), the Rosenborg Range (1929), the Gisselfeld Range (1933), the Stjerneborg Range (1937)—which are some of Holmegaard's longest-selling collections, and the Antique Green Range (1965) which was revamped in 2012 and is now known as JEB 65.

From 1942 until 1998, Danish glassmaker Per Lütken (1916-1998) worked at Holmegaard, breathing life into more than 3,000 assorted designs and creating some of the glassworks' most well-known pieces, such as the Provence Bowl (1955), the Selandia Dish (1957), No. 5 Range (1970), Ship's Glass Range (1971), Ideal Range (1978), and Charlotte Amalie Range (1981). His arrival marked the beginning of a new era for Holmegaard. Known for his perfectionism, Lütken's timeless and intricate pieces were a hallmark of Danish design during the 1960s and '70s. Today, his work is still highly regarded throughout Scandinavia and further afield.

In 1965, Holmegaard merged with the manufacturers Kastrup, Hellerup, and Fyens to become Kastrup og Holmegaards.

Sometime in the 1980s, Bang's son, Michael (1942-2013) joined Holmegaard as a designer. He is known for the MB Range (1981), the Mandarin Lamp (1983), Fontaine Wine Glass (1987), and the Mixed Double Bonbonniere (2003).

Today, Holmegaard is the leading glass producer in Denmark, producing both mouth-blown and machine-blown glass.