Bertel Gardberg (1916 – 2007) was a Finnish jeweller and metalworker. He is considered one of the greatest masters of Finnish artisanship. Gardberg was active as an artist for over 50 years and he contributed greatly to the world reputation of Finnish design. He worked with jewellery and small sculptures – as well as with commissioned works and industrial design. He worked a lot with silver and other materials, such as stone, wood, steel, brass and tin, which were often found in his creations.
Biography
Between 1938-1941 he studied at Taideteollin Korkeaukoulu, Helsinki. He began his working life in Copenhagen. Gardberg moved to Helsinki, where he maintained a studio between 1949-1966. He was responsible for stainless steel and silver designs produced by the Georg Jensen Solvsmedie, Galeries Lafayette department store, Paris and Kilkenny Design workshops, Dublin. Although known for his metal wares, he also worked in wood and stone.
He attempted to revive Ireland’s decorative arts and promote artisanship locally. He was the artistic director of the Kilkenny Design workshop Dublin. Between 1966-68. He was the head of design and technical director of Rionor, Kilkenny. Fiskars, Hackman and Hopeatehds produced his cutlery and stainless steel models. He designed wooden pieces and ecclesiastical and domestic silver produced by Noormarkun kotitedhsas. In 1973 he set up a studio, Pohja (Finland), where he continued his activities in woodworking, metal wares, and silver jewellery, into which he incorporated, as previously developed in Ireland, precious and semi-precious stones.
Sources
Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing.
Collections Online: British Museum. Collections Online | British Museum. (n.d.). https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG223903.
Commit Yourself to Design
Design Books – Amazon
* This website may contain affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission when you click on links at no additional cost. As an Amazon and Sovrn affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
-
Designing Liners: A History of Interior Design Afloat -
French Art Deco by Jared Goss -
The Art of Critical Making -
The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s -
The Architecture of Health Hospital Design -
Swedish Design: An Ethnography -
The Thoughtless Design of Everyday Things -
Mid-Century Modern Design: A Complete Sourcebook -
How Design Makes the World
More Design Firms
-
Aune Siimes (1909 – 1964), Finnish ceramicist
Aune Siimes (1909 – 1964) was a Finnish ceramicist. She attended Taideteollinen Korkeakoulu in Helsinki from 1932 to 1933.Read More →
-
Bertel Gardberg (1916 – 2007) Finnish Jeweller and Metalworker
Bertel Gardberg was a Finnish jeweller and metalworker. Between 1938-1941 he studied at Taideteollin Korkeaukoulu, Helsinki. He began his working life in Copenhagen. Gardberg moved to Helsinki where he maintained a studio between 1949-1966. He was responsible for stainless steel and silver designs produced by the Georg Jensen Solvsmedie; Galeries Lafayette department store, Paris…
-
Tapio Wirkkala (1913 – 1985) Finland’s leading designer
Tapio Wirkkala is widely regarded as one of Finland’s most influential designers. Wirkkala began hisRead More →
-
Finnish Design: A Concise History (hardcover)
Finnish Design has contributed significantly to the country’s economy and international identity. This beautifully conceived study examines the influence of Finnish modernism and its essential characteristics. The book extensively demonstrates how architecture works in the tension between art and business. Numerous photographs, posters, and illustrations depict every conceivable element of Finnish design’s rich diversity.Read More…
-
Arttu Brummer (1891 – 1951) Finnish designer
Arttu Brummer was a Finnish interior and glassware designer. Brummer set up his own interior design office in 1913. Read More →
-
Borje Rajalin (b.1933) Finnish Jewellery Designer
Borje Rajalin is a Finnish Jewellery Designer. Rajalin worked at Bertel Gardberg’s silversmith from 1952 – 1956. His design work included technical equipment, plastic fittings, cutlery, stainless steel table and cookware and with Anti Nurmesniemi in 1972 a train for the Helsinki Railway. They collaborated with station designers to make the metro stations modern and…
-
Marjatta Metsovaara (1927 – 2014) Finnish Textile Designer
Metsovaara’s style ranged from designs made up of organic forms in vibrant hues to muted neutral tones. She designed for 10 mills in Finland and abroad by 1967, and she made both printed and woven textiles. She ran her design studio and weaving mill in Urjala, Finland.Read More →
-
Marimekko Finnish textile Company
Marimekko, one of the most well-known Finnish textile companies, was founded by Armi and Viljö Ratia in Helsinki in 1951 as the trendy and innovative arm of their parent business, Printex, which they also formed two years earlier. At Printex, Armi Ratia created bold, experimental printed cotton textiles. Still, after this failed to catch the…
-
Armi Ratia (1912 – 1979) co-founder Marimekko
Ammi Maria Ratia (1912 – 1979) was the co-founder of Marimekko Oy (‘Mary’s frock’) Clothing was created to free women from 1950s’ tight, body-shaping dresses and move them into fresh, free-flowing dresses, skirts, trousers, and shirts.Read More →
-
Aimo Okkolin (1917 – 1982) Finnish Glass Designer
He made deeply cut crystal objects that were often coloured. He used a lot of nature subjects. The most famous is “Lumpeenkukka”. This glass object, designed by Okkolin in 1960, was Riihimäki Lasi’s best-selling single object. Okkolini’s glassware was presented to several foreign heads of state. He continued working for Riihimäki Glass until 1976 when…
-
Riihimaki Glass – Finnish Glass Factory
Riihimäki Glass was a Finnish glass factory. The factory, established in 1810 for the production of domestic glassware, began production of window glass in 1919. It purchased various small factories, including the factory in which the Finnish Glass Museum is located today. After buying the Kaukalahti glassworks in 1927, Riihimaki became the largest glass factory…
-
Gunnel Gustafsson Nyman (1909 – 1948) Finnish glass and textile designer
Nyman worked for all the great Finnish glass manufacturers of the 20th century: Riihimaki from 1932—47, Nuutajarvi-Notsjo from 1946—48, and Karhula from 1935—37 (and at littala from 1946—47). She designed for both production and studio glass.Read More →
-
Antti Aarre Nurmesniemi – Finnish Interior & Industrial Designer
Between 1949-50, he was a furniture designer at the Stockmann design office, Helsinki; 1951—56, he was furniture and interior designer in the Viljo Revell architecture office, HelsinkiRead More →
-
The Friends of Finnish Handicraft – Folk and Textile Art
The Friends of Finnish Handicraft aims to document and promote typically Finnish textiles. The association was founded in 1879 by Fanny Churberg and inspired by the Swedish Friends of Handicraft association, founded five years earlier. The association has always worked closely with artists and architects and, from an early date, cooperated with, e.g. Jac Ahrenberg. The association collected and published…
-
Lisa Johansson-Pape (1907 – 1989) Finnish Designer
Between 1928-30, she designed furniture for Kylmakoski; 1928—37, she was a textile designer for Friends of Finnish Handicraft. From 1952, its artistic director, 1937—49, was furniture, textile, and interior designer for Stockmann, Helsinki. Read More →
-
Rut Bryk (1916 – 1999) Swedish ceramicist/graphic/textile designer
-
Yki Nummi (1925 – 1984) Finnish Interior Designer & Colourist
The versatile designer Yki Nummi (1925-1984) was born in China to a missionary family. He studied in Finland and after graduating from the University of Art and Design Helsinki, he was hired as a lamp designer for Orno. His most famous products are the timeless icons Modern Art table lamp and Skyflier pendant lamp.Read More…
-
Perttu Mentula (b.1936) Finnish architect & Interior Designers
Perttu Mentula (b.1936) was a Finnish architect and interior, exhibition, product, graphic, and furniture designer.Read More →
-
Fiskars – Oldest Industrial Company in Finland
Fiskars – Oldest Industrial Company in Finland. It was formed in 1649. Fiskars can be traced back to Peter Thorwéste’s ironworks. READ MORERead More →
-
Kaj Franck Finnish textile and glassware designer
Kaj Franck was a Finnish textile and glassware designer and ceramicist. He was born in Viipuri, Finland. Often referred to as the “conscience of Finnish design,”Read More →
You may also be interested in
Mauboussin – French Jewellry – Design Profile – Encyclopedia of Design
Maubossin is a jewellery company in France. The original company was established in 1827 in Paris, on Rue Grenata, where it manufactured jewellery. Starting in 1903, M.B. Noury was the owner and nephew of Georges Maubossin, who had been the director of the company since 1877.
Pertuu Mentula Finnish architect and interior designer – Encyclopedia of Design
Perttu Mentula was a Finnish architect and interior, exhibition, product, graphic, and furniture designer. Between 1958-60, studied Taideteollinen Korkeakoulu, Helsinki. 1958-60, he was active as an interior and product designer in the offices of Antti Nurmesniemi and Timo Sarpaneva, and of Toivo Korkonen and Reino Lamminsoila, all Helsinki; 1960-77, was active in his design studio; 1964-77, was a designer for Wartsila Shipyards, Helsinki; from 1977, was director of Studio Perttu Mentula Oy.