Orrefors Glass from
The Glass Encyclopedia

Orrefors glassworks was founded in 1898 on the site of an iron-works, and in its early years the glassworks supplemented the ironworks by making cheap table-ware and bottles. Johan Ekman bought the company in 1913, closed the ironworks and started making better quality glass, such as cut crystal. They hired designers and artists to create new designs and techniques.

The artists Simon Gate and Edward Hald were hired in 1916-17, and worked with Knut Bergkvist to create the new technique of glass design called Graal, which has proved very successful and popular for many decades. Edvin Orhstrom joined the firm in 1936, and he, along with Vicke Lindstrand and the rest of the design team, developed the technique called Ariel. The vase above left is one of these Ariel pieces, where a multi-layered glass blank is cut to show the design through the layers, and this is then cased in clear crystal so as to trap air in the cut away parts of the design. The effect is to give an impression of silver inside the glass, due to the way light is reflected from the interior surfaces. Sven Palmquist joined the company in 1928 and developed Ravenna glass, thick glass with a pattern of regular coloured openings revealing layers of coloured glass.

Orrefors continues today to make high quality art glass and is the major Swedish manufacturer. If you are looking for Orrefors glass, you can usually find items on offer on ebay (click here to see Orrefors glass listings on ebay).


The items below are for sale right now on eBay - we thought you would like to see these examples.

• 1: Orrefors: A Century of Swedish Glassmaking published in June 1999 and edited by Kerstin Wickman.
• 2: Orrefors Glass was published in December 1995 and written by Alistair Duncan
• 3: Swedish Glass Factories: Production Catalogues 1915-1960, by Lars Thor and Helmut Ricke (ed) published in Sept 1987 but still available.
• 4: The Brilliance of Swedish Glass, 1918-1939: An Alliance of Art & Industry by Ostergard, Levine, Ericsson and Holkers, published 1996.

If you would like to know more about Orrefors glass there is an excellent article by Bill Geary on the Glass Museum website at http://www.glass.co.nz/orrefors.htm

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