chandelier

Ingeborg Lundin was an acclaimed designer who was the first woman hired to design for the Swedish art glass manufacturer Orrefors Glasbruk. Lundin attended the National College of Art, Craft and Design in Stockholm from 1941 to 1946. She was employed at Orrefors glassworks in 1947, where she remained until 1971. Her design work was, and still is, highly regarded for its originality and graceful simplicity. Founded in 1898, the Orrefors glassworks initially manufactured window glass, bottles, and tableware. In 1914, it introduced the production of cut crystal and by 1925, the glassworks had become internationally known for its engraved art glass. In the 1940s and 1950s, Lundin and other leading Orrefors designers developed new forms that best expressed the spirit of mid-20th-century Swedish design. In 1955, Lundin designed the “Äpplet” (Apple) vase, an icon of modern design that was her most famous creation. Her airy, minimalist tablewares were sometimes ornamented with clouds of bubbles or rhythmic, abstract engraved lines. Lighting has been an important part of Orrefors’ production since the 1920s. In 1962, Lundin was assigned her first major lighting project, which was a commission for Götabanken in Stockholm. She designed a large spherical chandelier, built up of triangular and circular glass plates mounted on a brass frame. The Museum’s chandelier is a variant of this design. This chandelier was previously owned by the B’nai Israel congregation in Elmira, New York. It was purchased in the 1960s, most likely from one of the U.S. retailers for Orrefors, Hansen Lamps, in New York City. The chandelier hung in the foyer of the B’nai Israel synagogue until 2012, when the congregation moved to another location.

Sweden, Orrefors

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