Table Tops - All dec-ked out!

[Hanne]

I thought I'd start a thread on table tops and the many interesting ways to make a table interesting and inviting (apart from just putting great food on it..)

Royal Copehagen invited some designers to lay a beautiful Christmas table (featuring royal copenhagen porcelain naturally).
I should have posted these ages ago.. appologies.. but time hasn't made them beautiful.. hope you enjoy

All text from royalcopenhagen.com

Christmas of the Artists - Royal Copenhagen Christmas tables 2007

Royal Copenhagen’s products are the work of artists and designers with extraordinary creative talents, artistic depth, aesthetic vision and understanding for the personality of porcelain. This year those artists have applied their abilities to Royal Copenhagen’s Christmas tables.

The fact is that this year Royal Copenhagen is going back to the original idea behind the Christmas tables and asking the artists and designers who create its products to lay the table for Christmas. When the first Christmas tables were laid 44 years ago, it was the firm’s own artists who each set the table for Christmas, creating a festive ambience in the exclusive store. This tradition did not change until the 1970s, when Royal Copenhagen started inviting celebrities to bring a sprinkling of stardust to its Christmas tables.

This year’s tables have been laid by:

• Shane Brox, who is launching a new children’s service by the name of Masquerade
• Ole Jensen, who designed the Ole range
• Karen Kjældgård-Larsen, who created Blue Fluted Mega
• Violise Lunn, who is responsible for a new Christmas collection
• Jette Frölich, who has been generating Christmas cheer for Royal Copenhagen since 1989
• Niels Bastrup, Royal Copenhagen’s Creative Director
• Monica Ritterband, creator of the Musica service and figurines

A fairytale Christmas
By Shane Brox​

No sooner has granny put her evening gloves on and left for the Christmas ball than all the porcelain and toys in her cottage come to life. While granny is out, a fairytale world awakes. Sylvester the Seahorse invites all his friends to a fancy-dress ball to celebrate Christmas and all sorts of things go on in granny’s cupboards that she would never have the imagination to picture. It is fortunate that granny has put her parcels on top of her cupboards, out of reach for inquisitive fingers and prying eyes.


Isadora the Polar Bear, Elvis the Cat and all the other characters from the Masquerade book have laid the magic table for a party. They have created a beautiful combination with granny’s exquisite Seagull service and the Masquerade service. The cutlery is granny’s own, while the glasses are Prelude from Orrefors and the napkins were purchased by granny from Georg Jensen Damask.


The table has been set for a magical, fun and unique dinner. So we can only hope that granny will not wonder at the broken Flora Danica cup that Sylvester the Seahorse knocked over in his festive fervour.


Shane, how can we put children in the Christmas mood?
Tradition, anticipation and magic put children in the Christmas mood. Parents and grandparents can help by keeping up Christmas traditions, while anticipation and the countdown to Christmas give children butterflies in their tummies and magic is provided by all the Christmas tales about Santa and his elves, Christmas decorations, glitter, colour and snow falling on a starry night.


About Shane Brox
Shane Brox’s picture book Masquerade, which tells the story of granny’s animated porcelain, was published by Politikens Forlag in 2007. The Masquerade service from Royal Copenhagen depicts the lovable characters from the book. Shane has published a number of other children’s books and also hosts a television programme, Shanes Verden, on DR1.

images royalcopenhagen.com and berlingske.dk

 

[Hanne]

A chaotic Christmas
By Ole Jensen

​

Ole Jensen’s table illustrates the chaos we all experience in the month before Christmas and New Year. Christmas preparations are characterised by traffic jams, shopping for presents, stress and synthetic sweets and ribbon. Ole has decided to welcome chaos with open arms and bring it together in a contemporary, slightly stressful Christmas table. The lilac Plexiglas tabletop is the same shape as Ole Jensen’s large dish from the Ole service. The table is laid with the Ole service, pink Contrast mugs, Jean Nouvel cutlery from Georg Jensen and Zwiesel glasses. The table is also decorated with four small porcelain figurines by Svend Lindhart illustrating the four aches: headache, stomachache, earache and toothache. All consequences of a chaotic Christmas.


Pink flexes wind their way all over the table, carrying electricity to and from the table lamps, which used to be graters. The flexes represent all the activity caused by spending Christmas in the bosom of one’s family. In an ordinary Danish home at Christmas several computers may be on, the digital cameras will be glowing, the mobile phones will be ringing and the television will never be off. The mission of this Christmas table is to create something beautiful from the chaos of modern life, the stress of Christmas and the artificial glitter of the season.


Ole, how can we avoid Christmas stress?
We can avoid Christmas stress by accepting that it’s part and parcel of the festive season and not wanting it any other way.


About Ole Jensen
Ole Jensen originally trained as a ceramicist and is known for, among other things, the innovative designs for kitchen and table that he has developed for Royal Copenhagen. The “Ole” range from 1997 consists of functional tableware and kitchen utensils with organic shapes, humour and soul.

images + text royalcopenhagen.com

 

[Hanne]

An ice blue Christmas
By Karen Kjældgård-Larsen​

In a snowscape of ice blue the table has been laid for a Christmas picnic in the open air. The slightly random positioning of the plates indicates that the guests were surprised by a sudden snowfall and have run for cover. Karen Kjældgård-Larsen has laid the table for Christmas lunch with her own Blue and Black Fluted Mega services. In the middle of the iceberg, in all their glory, are two étagères that have been specially created with Blue Fluted Mega and Blue Fluted. The two services are separated by 225 years of history, but they complement each other beautifully.

To counterbalance the hand-painted porcelain, Karen has created a small service in lavender blue, which sets off Mega perfectly with its hand-made shapes. The service from ceramic duo Claydies is called True Feelings. Claydies are also responsible for the ceramic grass poking up through the snow and heralding the spring waiting below. The cutlery is Gense’s Focus de Luxe and Karen has chosen a mega spoon to go with the Mega pattern, while the glasses are Fontaine from Holmegaard. The damask napkins are from Geismar.

Karen, who did you invite to this Christmas picnic?
It would have to be the Snow Queen and her retinue. The Snow Queen represents ice, frost and cold. She reminds us that we should enjoy Christmas, which is a warm, golden focal point in the middle of a long, cold winter.

About Karen Kjældgård-Larsen
Karen Kjældgård-Larsen created Blue Fluted Mega in 2000 when she was still a student at Danmarks Designskole. Blue Fluted Mega is now one of Royal Copenhagen’s best-selling services globally. Karen is half of design duo Claydies, who specialise in ceramic art and design.

images + text royalcopenhagen.com

 

[Hanne]

A golden Christmas
By Violise Lunn​

Violise Lunn has laid the table for Christmas with Flora Danica, the world’s most exclusive porcelain, in the most beautiful room in the house. The grand table has been laid for six people, who will eat Christmas dinner from Flora Danica plates and Violise’s own golden bowls. In the centre of the table stand two large vases containing beautiful, twisted branches, which are decorated with paper hearts and cornets, dextrously created by Violise for Royal Copenhagen’s Christmas collection. Two angels are watching over the table from the chandelier to ensure that the peace of Christmas descends on the dinner.

Violise has created a charming, gossamery and colourful universe for her Christmas dinner. The gold of the Flora Danica service gleams in competition with the Christmas candles and there is colourful candy to sweeten the hours of waiting before the guests can dance round the Christmas tree and open their presents. The guests will drink their Christmas wine out of Merlot glasses from Orrefors, while the tumblers are by iittala and the cutlery is Georg Jensen’s Vivianna. The napkins are candy-striped tea towels from Skjalm P that have been decorated with gold leaf.

Violise, which colours are best for Christmas?
I think a Christmas table should be bright and airy, and I love things that glitter. It counterbalances the darkness of winter and the colours that are traditionally regarded as Christmassy, like dark green and dark red. So my favourite colours for Christmas are white, pink and gold.

About Violise Lunn
Violise Lunn originally trained as a fashion designer at Danmarks Designskole. She has worked in a number of different materials, including fur, paper and textiles. For the last two years Violise has designed Christmas decorations, bowls and vases for Royal Copenhagen.

images + text royalcopenhagen.com

 

[Hanne]

An innocent, flirtatious Christmas
By Jette Frölich​

Jette Frölich has laid the table for a Christmas buffet on a large, elliptical ice rink. Skating princesses in white whiz off on the glittering ice and do pirouettes until they are up to their ears in the ice. The beautiful table is surrounded by candles and twigs, which smell clean and fresh like a crisp winter morning. On the table itself étagères tempt the taste buds with Christmas goodies to be enjoyed by the Christmas guests and small skating princesses.

The inspiration for the skating princess theme came from Jette’s own childhood, when she used to skate on Gentofte Lake. The contrast between the chilly dancing on the lake and the warm, cosy sensation of going home with cold, rosy cheeks to drink punch is the essence of Christmas cheer. There was something innocent and flirtatious about going to the lake, showing off on the ice and having fun with the other little skating princes and princesses. The table has been laid with White Full Lace, White Half Lace and the Blue Fluted pattern in a beautiful shade of green. The napkins are privately owned, while the silver-rimmed champagne glasses are from Broste Copenhagen.

Jette, why do we like Christmas decorations so much?
These days our homes tend to be very minimalist and streamlined. That’s also because we’re too busy to deal with lots of details and knickknacks, of course. But once a year it’s quite legitimate to take a child’s pleasure in decorating the home with all sorts of knickknacks, ornaments and paper.

About Jette Frölich
Jette Frölich epitomises Christmas decorations for Danes. Ever since the late 1960s, when she started holding a Christmas bazaar in her own home, Jette Frölich has been creating Christmas decorations for her own shop and later for firms like Illums Bolighus, Holmegaard and Royal Copenhagen. She has been making Christmas collections for Royal Copenhagen for 18 years.

images + text royalcopenhagen.com

 

[Hanne]

More..

An all-embracing Christmas
By Niels Bastrup


A musical Christmas
By Monica Ritterband


all images royalcopenhagen.com

 

[ChrissyM]

hanne these are so cool

i love the romantic feel of the table in post #4
the one in post 5 is really lovely as welll

i like that they each have their own feel and theme..
you can tell that a lot of though went into them..

 

[Hanne]

Thanks Chrissy!
My favorite is the setup in post #1, it's so playful.
I love how Shane Brox has played with the classic icebear figurine.. adding false lashes and a pink tutu to it..
Tho' Violise Lunns table (#4) is probably more comparable to the way I decorate my christmas table..

 

[ChrissyM]

yes that first one is definitely really fun and whimsical...
i like that it changes things up and makes the porcelain animals seem a bit goofy or dorky in a way (the eagle with the eyeglasses and all of those masks )

really great!

 

[*Happiness*]

ooooooh, I really like these tabletops!
totally cool and inspiring.
i wouldn't want to leave the table if i was at a dinner party.
thanks hanne for posting!!!

 

[gius]

i like #5 .. the little people that look like they're made of paper
& angels and things..
beautiful thread

--
i don't have a full table top to post
but i have coasters

from blog.2modern

Design always give a second chance to those memorable retro products. Now they are coasters for your drinks.
The super idea is from Supermandolini.