# Orrefors Glassworks

Orrefors Glassworks (also known as just Orrefors) is a glassworks in the Swedish village of Orrefors in Småland. Orrefors manufactured crystal glassware and art glass. The range consisted of crystal stemware, barware, vases, and sculptures and lighting products in crystal. The glassworks in Orrefors closed in 2012.
Orrefors is a part of the Swedish glassworks group Orrefors Kosta Boda [sv].

## History

Orrefors glassworks was founded in 1898 on the site of an older iron works. Until 1913, the company produced mainly window glass and bottles. When Consul Johan Ekman bought the factory in 1913, Orrefors started to produce drinking glasses, vases, and other house-ware items. Ekman hired Knut Bergkvist and his nephew Eugen, who had worked at Kosta Glasbruk, as well as Fritz Blomqvist and Heinrich Wollman. Wollman came from Bohemia, which has a long tradition in glassmaking. The first attempts at art glass making were in the style at the time of famous French glassworks including Daum and Gallé.
A similar technique was devised in 1936 which trapped air within the walls of the glass. It is known as Ariel, a name of a character in Shakespeare's play The Tempest. A major influence of theirs was the Art Nouveau work of the French artist Émile Gallé. Their designs use characteristic clean lines of brilliant crystal that suggest a frozen liquid. Their work was greatly admired when it was displayed to a wide audience at the 1925 Paris Exhibition in Paris.
In addition to individual pieces of crystal, the company made crystal stemware. The glass house came to be a leading producer during the interwar period (1918 to 1939). In more recent times the factory has also become noted for making chandeliers. Many of the older designs are still produced in the 21st century. Since 2013, the building has been home to the "Per Ekström Museet", an art museum.

## Notable works

* Graal Orrefors KB - HW No 1 vase in Graal technique designed by Simon Gate and made by Knut Bergqvist, 1916
* Slotssglas glass standing cup, designed by Simon Gate and made by Knut Bergqvist for the 1923 Gothenburg Exhibition
* Kraka glass bowl made in the Kraka technique and designed by Sven Palmqvist, in production from 1941–1959
* Ariel nr 606 E glass bowl made with the ariel technique, designed by Edvin Öhrström, 1950
* Tulip vase designed by Nils Landberg, 1957
* Crystal glasses designed for the Nobel Banquet by Gunnar Cyrén
* Statstjänstemannaskålen crystal bowl designed by Lisa Bauer

## Designers at Orrefors

* Knut Bergqvist 1914-1929
* Heinrich Wollman 1914-1923
* Gustav Abels 1915-1959
* Eva Jancke-Björk 1915-1917
* Fritz Blomqvist 1915-1917
* Simon Gate 1916-1945
* Edward Hald 1917-1978
* Nils Landberg 1927-1972
* John Selbing 1927-1973
* Vicke Lindstrand 1928-1940
* Sven Palmqvist 1928-1971
* Flory Gate 1930
* Edvin Öhrström 1936-1958
* Fritz Kurz 1940-1946
* Carl Fagerlund 1946-1980
* Ingeborg Lundin 1947-1971
* Gunnar Cyrén 1959-1970, 1976-
* Jan Johansson 1969-
* Börge Lindau 1970-
* Bo Lindekrantz 1970-
* Peter Mandl 1970-
* Styrbjörn Engström 1970
* Olle Alberius 1971-1973
* Henning Koppel 1971-1981
* Rolf Nilsson 1971-1972
* Lars Hellsten 1972-
* Eva Englund 1974-1990
* Wiktor Bernt 1975-1979
* Owe Elven 1975-1978
* Berit Johansson 1979-1983
* Arne Branzell 1980-1982
* Anette Krahner 1980-1981
* Erika Lagerbielke 1982-
* Anne Nilsson 1982-2005
* Klas-Göran Tinbäck 1982-1983
* Mats Borgström 1984-1990
* Helén Krantz 1988-2005
* Vivianne Karlsson 1989-1993
* Lena Bergström 1994-
* Per B Sundberg 1994-
* Martti Rytkönen 1994-
* Ingegerd Råman 1999-
* Karl Lagerfeld 2010-2019