Cathrineholm, how ye ruin me.

It’s well documented on this website that I am a lover of all things vintage. I love Pyrex and Fire King pieces from the 50s and 60s, I love Fiestaware. I love mid-century modern design and Danish modern designs from the 50s and 60s as well. However, my sweet, adorable husband does not. His idea of vintage is last year’s Pottery Barn line up. But he’s coming around to the vintage way of thinking.

A big helper in my battle for classic styling has been the Cathrineholm Lotus enamelware pieces we’ve been collecting here and there. He’s in lurve with them (almost) as much as I am. Let me know share with you the beauty that is Cathrineholm Lotus:

Many people believe that Cathrineholm is the name of the line’s designer (I sure did when I first started collecting). It’s actually the name of the factory (now defunct) in Norway which produced the pieces. Here’s a great little blurb with more history:

The Cathrineholm factory, located in Halden Norway began manufacturing signs for advertising and general household items made of enamel on steel in 1907. Grete Prytz Kittelsen (1917 – 2010) is the name of the designer that was born into a family of very well known enamalists in Oslo, Norway. When she decided to mass produce her own enameled items, it was the Cathrineholm factory that started manufacturing these items in 1954. In 1962, the factory workers at Cathrineholm, without Grete’s approval, added the “lotus” pattern that we have all come to associate with the Cathrineholm name. By doing so, they thought that this would be a bigger selling point to the housewives in Norway. To this day, Grete Prytz Kittelsen doesn’t care so much for this design. On a personal note, it’s this same lotus design that made me first fall in love with all of these items. There’s just something about it that is so beautiful to me. I totally respect where Grete Prytz Kittelsen was coming from as an artist and a designer, but if a mistake was going to be made, I’m very glad that it was this one. :) (source)

Grete was an incredible designer and is a legend in the modern design community. Her work extends far beyond the iconic Cathrineholm Lotus pattern that’s become infamous. It’s ironic that the piece that’s become the most iconic is one that was altered without her consent. Here are a few of her other designs:

The picture above shows three of her striped bowls in fair condition (some damage to the edge of the bowls).

The small blue bowl is Grete’s “Viking” pattern.

Nonetheless, it’s the Lotus pattern that had me at hello. The pieces are enamelware, which is a stainless steel form coated with a thin layer of glass. As such, these pieces were subject to damage when dropped, handled too roughly or if metal utensils were used in/on them. As time goes on, it’s becoming more and more difficult to find Cathrineholm pieces still in mint or excellent condition, which is consistently driving up the prices for collectors.

My CH (that’s how us collectors refer to it – we’re super trendy and hip like that) collection isn’t going to grow much and I’m totally okay with that. The cost is becoming more and more prohibitive for serious collecting. But the pieces I do have are beautiful, mint and I love them like Sarah Palin loves being oblivious to reality. There’s something about the bright colors and happy lotus leaves that completely have me (and the hubs) captivated. There’s something about how they feel in your hands – cold, sturdy, heavy. They are incredible.

It’s totally a love/hate thing: I love them to no end. I hate that I essentially have to sell my body to afford them. Such is life.

What about you? Do you collect anything special or unusual? Please share. I need to feel less like a freak today. KTHNXBUHBYE.