Jens Quistgaard
Encyclopedia
Jens Harald Quistgaard was a Danish
industrial designer who worked with the entrepreneur Ted Nierenberg
to craft elegant and functional Scandinavian Design
cookware and home furnishings for Dansk International Designs
.
and anvil
for blacksmith
ing, instead of a bicycle, as a Christmas present when he was 14. His first museum showing was at the Charlottenberg Museum, which displayed when he was 15-years old a set of hand-forged knives he had created. He later worked as an apprentice at the studio of silversmith
Georg Jensen
under Just Anderson, which was interrupted by World War II
, when he served in the Danish resistance movement
.
and stainless steel
design for a fork and knife which Quistgaard had designed and forged by hand were put on display in 1954 at a museum in Copenhagen
, which he had created because he couldn't find anything available for sale that he liked enough to purchase. American
Ted Nierenberg was on a tour of Europe and spotted the flatware when he visited the museum. Nierenberg tracked down Quistgaard and convinced him that the design could be mass produced, leading to the creation of Dansk International Designs. From the mid-1950s until the 1980s, Quistgaard created designs for Dansk from his studio in Copenhagen
In 1956, Quistgaard designed the Kobenstyle cookware line of enameled cookware, which were both functional and visually attractive, able to be brought from the kitchen to the table, with the lid serving as its own trivet
. By 1958, Nierengard and Quistgaard had expanded Dansk's wares to include teak magazine racks and stools, stoneware casseroles and salt and pepper shakers, and flatware with split cane handles, with The New York Times
that year as "creating a stir" as "some of the most popular accessories found in American homes".
He was known for his elegant but functional designs, created by using and combining materials such as exotic woods and stainless steel, as well as for his use of enameled steel in brilliant colors. He was recognized with the Lunning Prize
in 1954 and won six gold medals at the Milan Trienalle. His designs have been put into the collections of and displayed at museums included the Louvre
in Paris
and at both the Metropolitan Museum of Art
and the Museum of Modern Art
in New York City
. By 1982, he had created more than 2,000 different designs of dinnerware, glassware and items for the home.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
industrial designer who worked with the entrepreneur Ted Nierenberg
Ted Nierenberg
Theodore David "Ted" Nierenberg was an American business executive and entrepreneur who created Dansk International Designs, a company that sells Scandinavian Design-style cooking and serving utensils and other home furnishings, established after discovering the simple but elegant design style on...
to craft elegant and functional Scandinavian Design
Scandinavian Design
Scandinavian design emerged in the 1950s in the three Scandinavian countries , as well as Finland. It is a design movement characterized by simple designs, minimalism, functionality, and low-cost mass production....
cookware and home furnishings for Dansk International Designs
Dansk International Designs
Dansk Designs was an American distributor and retailer of cookware, tableware, and other home accessories based in Mount Kisco, New York...
.
Early life and training
Quistgaard was born on April 23, 1919, in Denmark. His father was a sculptor who trained him in the art, and Quistgarrd started carving his own toys from scrap wood, a practice he continued with his own children. He requested and received a forgeForge
A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...
and anvil
Anvil
An anvil is a basic tool, a block with a hard surface on which another object is struck. The inertia of the anvil allows the energy of the striking tool to be transferred to the work piece. In most cases the anvil is used as a forging tool...
for blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
ing, instead of a bicycle, as a Christmas present when he was 14. His first museum showing was at the Charlottenberg Museum, which displayed when he was 15-years old a set of hand-forged knives he had created. He later worked as an apprentice at the studio of silversmith
Silversmith
A silversmith is a craftsperson who makes objects from silver or gold. The terms 'silversmith' and 'goldsmith' are not synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product varies greatly as does the scale of objects created.Silversmithing is the...
Georg Jensen
Georg Jensen
Georg Arthur Jensen was a Danish silversmith.Born in 1866, Jensen was the son of a knife grinder in the town of Raadvad just to the north of Copenhagen. Jensen began his training in goldsmithing at the age of 14 in Copenhagen...
under Just Anderson, which was interrupted by World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when he served in the Danish resistance movement
Danish resistance movement
The Danish resistance movement was an underground insurgency movement to resist the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. Due to the unusually lenient terms given to Danish people by the Nazi occupation authority, the movement was slower to develop effective tactics on a wide scale...
.
Dansk International Designs
A teakTeak
Teak is the common name for the tropical hardwood tree species Tectona grandis and its wood products. Tectona grandis is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma, but is naturalized and cultivated in many countries, including those in Africa and the...
and stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
design for a fork and knife which Quistgaard had designed and forged by hand were put on display in 1954 at a museum in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, which he had created because he couldn't find anything available for sale that he liked enough to purchase. American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Ted Nierenberg was on a tour of Europe and spotted the flatware when he visited the museum. Nierenberg tracked down Quistgaard and convinced him that the design could be mass produced, leading to the creation of Dansk International Designs. From the mid-1950s until the 1980s, Quistgaard created designs for Dansk from his studio in Copenhagen
In 1956, Quistgaard designed the Kobenstyle cookware line of enameled cookware, which were both functional and visually attractive, able to be brought from the kitchen to the table, with the lid serving as its own trivet
Trivet
A trivet is an object placed between a serving dish or bowl, and a dining table, usually to protect the table from heat damage.Trivet also refers to a tripod used to elevate pots from the coals of an open fire...
. By 1958, Nierengard and Quistgaard had expanded Dansk's wares to include teak magazine racks and stools, stoneware casseroles and salt and pepper shakers, and flatware with split cane handles, with The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
that year as "creating a stir" as "some of the most popular accessories found in American homes".
He was known for his elegant but functional designs, created by using and combining materials such as exotic woods and stainless steel, as well as for his use of enameled steel in brilliant colors. He was recognized with the Lunning Prize
Lunning Prize
The Lunning Prize was instituted by Frederik Lunning, owner of the New York agency for Georg Jensen. The prize was awarded to eminent Scandinavian designers, two each year, from 1951 to 1970...
in 1954 and won six gold medals at the Milan Trienalle. His designs have been put into the collections of and displayed at museums included the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and at both the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
and the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. By 1982, he had created more than 2,000 different designs of dinnerware, glassware and items for the home.