Confetti: My favourite mid century enamel
As European enamelware goes the Cathrineholm factory in Norway is very famous.
But The Netherlands has it's own legendary enamel and cast iron producers: DRU (Diepenbrock en Reigers te Ulft). You might know them from the DRU Holland pastel coloured enamelware with the tulip logo, but my favourite series is this one:
When I started going to flee markets about 25 years ago it must have been one of the first items I picked up: a battered black enamel bowl with tiny yellow and red dots. There just was something so adorable about it.
In the years following more of these bowls did pop up on my thrift store trips every now and then, and I was always drawn to them. Mostly they were as battered as the first one I picked up, but I started to be more selective: occasionally there was a bowl and lid in very good condition!
Research learned that these enamel bowls were actually a Dutch design classic.
The Confetti series was designed by Willem Gilles in 1953/1954 for DRU (Diepenbrock en Reigers te Ulft).
All Confetti bowls have the same print: black with clusters of tiny dots (2 red & 1 yellow) and are white on the inside.
The lids were made in 4 different colours: red, yellow, blue and black.
With this design Willem Gilles offered housewives a pan so beautiful that it could also be used as a serving dish. But, it being the mid fifties, most kitchen sinks were granite tiled! Not a good combination with enamel (which is glass covered metal). That's why it is so hard nowadays to find the ones in good condition.
This design is considered so important that they are part of the permanent exhibition in the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam. When I'm visiting the museum I always go to look at "my pans". ;-)
If you also want a taste of this mid century kitchenware, check out the vintage housewares section of AllFairness.etsy.com
But The Netherlands has it's own legendary enamel and cast iron producers: DRU (Diepenbrock en Reigers te Ulft). You might know them from the DRU Holland pastel coloured enamelware with the tulip logo, but my favourite series is this one:
In the years following more of these bowls did pop up on my thrift store trips every now and then, and I was always drawn to them. Mostly they were as battered as the first one I picked up, but I started to be more selective: occasionally there was a bowl and lid in very good condition!
Research learned that these enamel bowls were actually a Dutch design classic.
The Confetti series was designed by Willem Gilles in 1953/1954 for DRU (Diepenbrock en Reigers te Ulft).
All Confetti bowls have the same print: black with clusters of tiny dots (2 red & 1 yellow) and are white on the inside.
The lids were made in 4 different colours: red, yellow, blue and black.
With this design Willem Gilles offered housewives a pan so beautiful that it could also be used as a serving dish. But, it being the mid fifties, most kitchen sinks were granite tiled! Not a good combination with enamel (which is glass covered metal). That's why it is so hard nowadays to find the ones in good condition.
This design is considered so important that they are part of the permanent exhibition in the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam. When I'm visiting the museum I always go to look at "my pans". ;-)
If you also want a taste of this mid century kitchenware, check out the vintage housewares section of AllFairness.etsy.com
Comments