Exquisite Holmegaard Glass as captured with the very special SONY NEX-5

Per Lütken (1916-1998) Heart vase designed for Holmegaard in 1958.

Friday I decided to purchase a new camera - my old camera being the Canon A-1 bought in Hong Kong in 1984. Most of the images posted on this blog over the past two years were taken with my Cell phone camera and a small digital camera from work. I received advice from numerous individuals, including recommendations from my very own brother, Alan Hon - as to the ultimate choice of camera for my particular needs. At first it was a toss-up between the Nikon D3100, the Canon EOS 500D and or a Sony Alpha. In the end, after much thought, and a convincing recommendation from a colleague at work, Angus Campbell (an Industrial Designer), I purchased the new compact Sony Alpha NEX-5. The compact and lightweight design being the deciding factors. I could not face walking round with a bulky camera whilst on holiday- like a true Japanese tourist.

Sony NEX-5

Needless to say that Friday afternoon and early Saturday morning was spent trying out the new toy in my studio - the back 'stoep' (balcony floor) with its neutral grey cement finish. The lighting is absolutely perfect as the posted photos will testify.  

Per Lütken (1916-1998) Heart vase (1958).

I decided to photograph three products from my small collection of fifties glass, especially the Holmegaard heart vase (one of two in my collection) and two of seven rectangle tube vases (all different colour combinations). The two types of vases compliment each other, as the heart shaped vases resembles the female and the rectangular tube like vase, reminiscent of a condom, the male equivalent. 

Per Lütken (1916-1998) Heart vase

Per  Lütken (1965)
by Erling Mandelmann

The heart shaped vases are attributed to the danish glass maker Per Lütken (1916-1998). He designed more than 3000 pieces for Holmegaard from 1942 until his death in 1998. The pieces in my collection was designed during the late fifties and early sixties. I am particularly interested in them because of the symbolic aspect of their design (heart shaped). The other vase in my collection has a smokey black interior.





The following rectangle tube vases are very special to me, especially the first one, clear glass with smokey black tube interior. I am not sure of the designer or the factory that produced these - please can anyone assist me in this regard. I have searched the Internet and I am sorry to say none the wiser. I will be most grateful if someone can even assist with where to start looking for the origin of these vases.

Please could you leave your comments regarding the photos, the quality of the lighting, styling of the images and the vases themselves. Very soon I will post images of my entire collection. As soon as I get feedback on the designer and the factory that produced these vases.