Some of my favourite pottery pieces come from the Norwegian pottery factories Figgjo Flint and Stavangerflint. They were both founded in the forties, their prime being the fifties and sixties. The two rival firms were merged in 1968 and renamed as Figgjo AS. The company is still running today, though, their style is now more simplified and serious, and very different from the style of the earlier days which heavily emphasized colourful, playful decorations.
Most of the pottery pieces I have managed to collect from Stavangerflint and Figgjo Flint are filled with whimsical, quirky characters and plants which catch the eye of my little daughter as well as mine. The two companies also had some tableware especially designed for children. Over the years I have managed to collect a few for my daughter. These pieces are all finds from charity shops and flea markets. Most of them by my dear mother in Finland.
The design on the cup pictured on the top is by Gro Pedersen Claussen for Stavangerflint. She worked for the factory from 1963 to 1967, after which she continued as a freelancer until 1975. She designed two ranges of children's tableware: To barn med sau (Two children with sheep) and Venner (Friends), from which the pictured cup is from. The set also includes a plate and a bowl. They are pretty hard to find these days and very few come to auction on eBay. I really love the style of the illustration as it reminds me of the illustrator Ingrid Vang-Nyman's work on Astrid Lindgren's children's books, which were my all time favourites as a child.
The other cup is from Figgjo Flint and shows a little child fishing. I haven't managed to find any information about the cup's designer or age, but I would assume it dates to mid fifties.
The bowl on the top picture was designed by Inger Waage who was the most prominent designer for Stavangerflint. She designed three different children's tableware sets about road safety (Trygg trafikk) and this particular plate belongs to the last one dating back to the late sixties when Figgjo Flint and Stavangerflint were merged and the bowl has both companies backstamps.
The other bowl, with a little boy and a girl with a blue car, is by Turi Gramstad Oliver who became the most celebrated designer at Figgjo Flint where she started working circa 1960. Previously she had worked for Stavangerflint while still studying. The bowl has a Stavangerflint backstamp and her signature text, "turi design". The design dates most likely back to the fifties while she was still a student.
These plates, pictured above, are from Figgjo Flint but I have been unable to trace the designer. From the style of the backstamp I can tell they are from the early fifties and therefore I can assume that they are not designed by Turi Gramstad Oliver, as she wasn't working at the factory until 1960. Anyhow, the plates are absolutely gorgeous and still in perfect condition despite being 60 years old.
