Hertha Bengtson Shallow Vase

This highly sculptural shallow vase belongs to Hertha Bengtson’s imaginative series of stoneware art-objects produced at Höganäs around 1964. 

The eccentric vase serves as an unconventional reflection of the youthful, playful and exciting era of the 1960’s; the striking design captures the space-age stylings of the time with its sweeping silhouette & unusual applied decoration.
The flared & undulating shape of this piece, in the spirit of the age, boldly defies tradition yet the object is balanced & grounded by the the historic method of production; the vase is turned by hand on a potter’s wheel.

The dappled blue glaze is both beautiful and refined, and featured light crystalline areas of grey with darker patches which are richly pigmented with cobalt blue.

The unique & playful character of this object is enhanced by the application of peculiar space-age ‘handles’, crafted from extruded clay cylinders. These distinct cylinders, a hallmark of Bengtson’s collection, give the vase, and the entire series, a strange and somewhat otherworldly charm.