Nils Thorsson
NILS THORSSON (1898-1975)
Nils Thorsson was a Danish ceramicist, silversmith, and painter. He apprenticed at the age of 13 at the manufactory Aluminia where he eventually became the artistic director of the earthenware pieces from 1933-1969 and of the stoneware department at Royal Porcelain Factory 1949-1969.
In 1925 Nils Thorsson exhibited a series of variegated faience (autumn series) pieces for which he was awarded a gold medal at the World's Fair in Paris. Around 1930 he began a modernization of glazing and spraying techniques.
Thorsson had an unbridled desire to experiment with new glazes and ceramic textile-like effects that yielded remarkable results. He knew how to craft delicate forms and had a fine sense of shape and decoration, often displaying a Nordic sensibility of symbolic forms and raised patterning. His palette of motifs was large and ranged from pure naturalism, abstraction and geometric patterns, executed in glazed, raised, or incised relief.
His works can be found in the collections of the Museum of Art and Design in Copenhagen, the Royal Porcelain Factory Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum in London, The National Museum in Stockholm and the Ceramic Museum in Faenza.