Sunday, February 15, 2009

Emalox



The previous post got me thinking about Emalox. There's not much info out there in cyberspace (at least not in English) so I thought I'd try and fill the gap somewhat.


I've collected a bit of vintage Emalox bowls over the years, because of their simple shapes and great lustrous colors. The designer of these bowls was Bjørn Engø, originally a furniture designer. In the mid 1950s Engø started designing bowls, plates and ashtrays in enameled aluminum for Emalox at Ryen in Oslo. The basic forms of these products, and their fresh colors became very popular and are today sought-after collectors items. Emalox’ Grey Series was awarded a prize for good Norwegian design in 1967, and was then expanded to also be produced in other colors. The jury stated that they 'considered the grey, yellow and light green series to be the producer's best'.

A more well-known contemporary of Bjørn Engø is Grete Prytz Kittelsen. She is arguably most famous for the Lotus range (pots, pans and bowls) for Cathrineholm, but is originally a jewelery artist specialized in enameling works.

Images borrowed from Norsk Designråd (The Norwegian Design Council).

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do they actually refer to Emalox as 'enameled'? I was under the impression that is was 'anodized' for color, and then lacquer-coated for protection.

Anonymous said...

Do they actually refer to Emalox as 'enameled'? I was under the impression that is was 'anodized' for color, and then lacquer-coated for protection.

Janne said...

You are absolutely right. It's my English that isn't up to scratch :-) Thanks for the correction.