42 Pc Tias Eckhoff Lundtofte Danish Modern Dansk Rosewood Flatware Silverware

Description

Mid to late 20th century Dansk Designs wood handled flatware / serving utensils designed by Tias Eckhoff and including some mismatched pieces. Majority are made in Lundtofte, Denmark. Includes: Cheese Server, Serving Spoon, Sauce Ladle, Cheese Knife, Cocktail Fork, 8 Knives, 8 Table Spoons, 8 Dinner Forks, 8 Tea Spoons, 4 Demitasse Spoons, and Rogers Bros tarnish resistant wood storage chest. Cheese server and cheese knife by other manufacturers.

"Dansk Designs (colloquially known as Dansk) is an American brand known for its wood serving pieces, brightly-colored enameled steel cookware, and oftentimes sculptural dinnerware and accessories. Currently based in New York City, the company is among several credited for introducing the Danish Modern movement to American households. On a honeymoon to Europe in 1954, American couple Martha and Ted Nierenberg went in search of high-quality applied or industrial products to base a new business aimed at a domestic U.S. audience. After not seeing any designs they liked while touring industrial fairs in Portugal and Italy, they then headed north, and although they again found no products, they were impressed by the quality of the steel and manufacturing techniques coming out of metal factories in Solingen, Germany. The Nierenbergs decided to tour Scandinavia and during a visit to the Museum of Arts and Crafts Kunsthandwaerkmuseet (today the Danish Museum of Art & Design) in Copenhagen, they saw an unusual set of cutlery on display that combined Siamese teak and stainless steel, created by young artist-designer Jens Quistgaard. The Nierenbergs spoke with him in an effort to persuade him to manufacture the cutlery they saw in the Kunsthandwaerkmuseet. At first, Quistgaard insisted that, although winning a competition prize that placed it in the museum, the pieces could only be forged by hand, one piece at a time, and it was for that reason that nobody in Denmark would produce it. But after seeing techniques in Solingen, the Nierenbergs were able to convince him they knew where the complex design could be mass-produced, leading to Dansk Designs' first product, Fjord flatware, which has been one of the brand's enduring bestsellers. The Nierenbergs established Dansk that year in their home's garage in Great Neck, New York, with Quistgaard as its "Chief Designer", a role he held for three decades. The name was devised when Ted Nierengard suggested they call the new company 'Danish Design', Jens Quistgaard pushed back and said “Call it ‘Dansk Designs', because ‘Dansk’ is like when you sell vodka in the U.S.A., you use its Russian name...”. After Quistgaard designed a new enameled cookware line called 'Købenstyle' in 1955, Ted Nierenberg attracted orders for several hundred units from stores all around the United States, and the business took off from there. By 1958, Nierenberg and Quistgaard had expanded Dansk's wares to include stainless steel flatware, porcelain serveware, stoneware casseroles, wood stools and nutcrackers, and ice buckets made of teak. In the 1960s, Dansk relocated its headquarters to Mount Kisco, New York to expand its headquarters. Over the next few decades, Dansk further grew its product line by collaborating with designers Niels Refsgaard, Jack Lenor Larsen, Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe, Ritva Puotila, Lorenzo Porcelli, and Gunnar Cyrén. Dansk became one of the most successful brands to import Danish Modern designs into the kitchens and dining rooms of middle class Americans. By the early 1980s, Quistgaard had created more than 4,000 different designs for the American company ranging from ceramics, glassware, metalware and other items for the home. Dansk was purchased in June 1985 by Dansk Acquisition Corp. in a deal initiated by Goldman Sachs. Dansk ownership was again transferred in 1991 to the Brown-Forman Corporation and incorporated under its Lenox subsidiary. After the 2008 financial crisis, a group of investors led by Clarion Capital Partners LLC purchased the assets of Lenox—including Dansk—and renamed the company Lenox Corporation in 2009 and moved the Dansk headquarters to Bristol, Pennsylvania. Dansk continued as a brand of Lenox until the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused Lenox to shutter all warehouses, outlet stores, and it's only remaining U.S. factory in 2020. In 2021, Dansk was acquired by Food52 with plans to revive the brand and relocated its headquarters to New York City. On December 29, 2025, parent company Food52 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of an agreement to sell itself and its assets to America's Test Kitchen for an undisclosed amount, who will provide the company with new capital via debtor-in-possession financing to keep it operating throughout the procedure." (Wikipedia)

Condition

Good Overall - Some mismatched brands/wood tones; splitting to knife handles, fading.

Dimensions

Cheese Server - 8.5" x 3" / Demitasse Spoon - 4.625" x 1" (Length x Width)