A manufacturer that changed its logo 20 times in 200 years
Sweden's long-established pottery Gustavsberg. It is one of the most famous makers of Scandinavian vintage tableware, with famous designers such as Lisa Larson and Stig Lindberg.
One of the characteristics of Nordic tableware manufacturers is that they change their logos at every turn. Among them, Gustavsberg is a manufacturer that has changed its logo quite frequently in its 200-year history.
It has been changed at least 20 times, including modern reprints.
A logo is also called a "backstamp" and is basically stamped on the back of a cup or plate. If you look at the stamps from a different perspective, the fact that they change frequently means that you can figure out when the tableware was produced.
This technique is quite useful when looking at the age of vintage Gustavsberg tableware.
Today, I will summarize the history of the logo for 200 years.
Read more about the history of Gustavsberg here.
List of Gustavsberg logos from 1825 to the present day
In Gustavsberg's 200-year history, this many backstamps have been used. "talet" and "tal" in the table mean "~ era".
Gusta f sberg at the beginning
Gustavsberg was originally spelled Gusta f sberg. Gusta v sberg, which is often seen in vintage, is spelled with "v" from the 1920 logo.
In addition, the reprints currently on sale return to the old spelling Gustafsberg again.
stamping with die
The above list is a stylized representation of all the backstamps, but until the 1920s logo, the Gustavsberg logo was primarily stamped rather than ink-stamped.
In other words, it is a feature until the early 20th century that the ink logo is not pressed. Therefore, the old-fashioned logo is not visible unless the light shines through it.
A feature of the back stamps at that time is that the last two digits of the manufacturing year are often engraved.
The above Wexiö says 94, so it must have been manufactured in 1894. The above Mallorca is 82, so it is made in 1882. Both are works of the 19th century.
Bespoke logo for the series
Gustavsberg may have a bespoke stamp depending on the series of tableware. A typical example is the Berså series .
In such cases, a special stamp is designed to match the atmosphere of the tableware, and "Gustavsberg" is entered along with the series name.
In Gustavsberg, there are series that are reprinted even today, but they are all unified with the anchor mark of Gusta”f”sberg.
The good thing about vintage is that it is backstamped with an individual atmosphere along with excellent colors. It's vintage and good that you can enjoy it even if you turn the plate upside down.
Chronological summary
- 1825 - Original logo (Gustafsberg for f instead of v)
- 1920- Gustavsberg's spelling and ink-type backstamp start
- 1930 - Almost the same design as today
- 1940-Anchor rope turns to the left
- 1970- Rope disappears
- Around 1995 Reprinted F logo
What did you think? In particular, it is easy to tell if an item is vintage by paying attention to the direction of the anchor's rope. The right-handed rope with the rope hidden behind the anchor is before World War II, the left-handed rope in front of the anchor is an old vintage post-war logo, and the logo without the rope is about half a century old.
In this way, Gustavsberg products can be understood when they were manufactured by looking at the shape of the back stamp. Especially in the old days of the early 20th century, the last two digits of the year are stamped every year, so you can accurately know the production year.
The reprinted version also had a 4-digit AD stamp for a period of time, but it has been discontinued since around 2015. In the first place, since the reprinted product line-up does not change, it may not have been necessary to update the stamps every year.
The backstamp of Nordic tableware is basically sloppy
By the way, this can be said not only for Gustavsberg but also for Scandinavian tableware in general, but in most cases the backstamp is thin or misaligned. Almost nothing is pressed exactly in the middle.
In the Japanese sense of values, if the stamp on the product is off, there is an idea that it is a B-grade product, but it shows the Scandinavian style that it is okay to be sloppy as long as it does not impair the functionality. With Nordic tableware, even if the stamp is misaligned, faded, or illegible, the price does not change at all.
(Photo: Bleeding like this is good)
The sloppiness of such a logo is one of the "likenesses" of Scandinavian tableware.
If you are looking for vintage Gustavsberg tableware, please look for products by era based on the chronological table.