IWhat later became known as Ipsen's Enke Terracotta Factory was founded in Copenhagen in 1843 by the porcelain worker Peter Ipsen. In the beginning he had his terracotta objects burned at Royal Copenhagen, but in 1847 he built a factory in the northern outskirts of Copenhagen. He died in 1860 leaving his widow and their son, they took over the business. At the time the company was already a success, and it continued. Ipsen's Enke produced mainly copies of the classical ancient Greek decorated pots just like a number of other ceramic companies. It was all about being the quickest and the best to copy the latest archaeological findings. It was also an option to order these jars done in a certain way. It is therefore, possible to find strange and rare hybrid jars.

 

Ipsen's Enke was a fairly large company technically ahead of most other ceramic companies, and during the late 19th century they received gold medals in all major exhibitions. It ended at the turn of the century when the classical copy jars were no longer fashionable. Something had to be done, and as they did on the other ceramic factories and glassworks, Ipsen’s Enke employed artists, and they employed the very best artists, and it is possible to find objects, which are designed by the most famous and sought-after artists of the 20th century in the assortment of the company.

 

One of the artists is the sculptor and silversmith Georg Jensen (186-1935), who has at least designed 27 objects for the company. Another is the sculptor Bindesbøll (1846-1908) who has designed 65 jars and bowls etc. Christian Joachim (1870-1943), who later became artistic director of the Aluminia porcelain factory, produced more than 80 works of art. The sculptor Kai Nielsen (1882-1924) contributed with the best selling figure "Venus Kalipygos". Sculptor George Thyldstrup contributed with his figures to the recognition of Ipsen's Enke at a number of major exhibitions. He also contributed to the renewal of Ipsen's Enke. The sculptor and ceramic artist Bode Willumsen (1895-1987) made a number of major works, while the sculptor Arne Bang (1901-1983) is noted for a figure in sales catalogs. The world-renowned ceramicist Axel Salto (1889-1964) has produced at least 10 objects for Ipsen's Enke, and today these items are in demand, and this is naturally reflected in the price. Also sculptor Just Andersen (1884-1943) worked for Ipsen's widow he made three figures. The sculptor Arno Malinowski (1899-1976) made three figures. Sculptor Erik Cohrt (1902-1970) also made three figures, while sculptor Johannes Hedegaard produced four figures for Ipsen's widow in 1942.

 

Ipsen's Enke closing in 1955. The company was ousted by the ceramic enterprises producing stoneware which were artistically and design wise renewed in order to make the products appeal to the mid century generation. As alreeady mentioned is it possible to find objects of high quality done by a number of renowned artists, and if you are interested in weird and strange objects, it is also possible to find it in the range of Ipsen's Enke. These are objects, which will adorn any cabinet of curiosities. One of our own favorites y is an sculptural ashtray showing how the elephant got its trunk. Ipsen produced many exciting ashtrays. Now ashtrays are not politically correct, so if you want to find them on the internet, you should either search the "small bowl" or "Jewelry bowl".