Signed PLUS Richard Duborgh 1967 Norwegian art glass vase

This is a very stylish vase by Plus Glasshytte of Norway, a nice grey/green colour, and an interesting effect with the bubbles in different sizes and the layers of colour. I bought it without knowing much about Plus, simply because it was clearly a stylish piece.

Plus was founded in 1958. It's the glass division of a cooperative that made a variety of forms of art. This piece, as with many from Plus, doesn't identify the designer, however, this email from Morten, a Norwegian glass lover, gave us more information.  I've edited the email to protect his privacy.  (Thanks very much, Morten.)

Hello

- and congratulations on your wonderful site! 

I just thought you?d like know that your reference 2148, an art glass vase from PLUS, Norway, is a 1967 design by Richard Duborgh, who at the time headed the glass works at PLUS. He was in charge of glass design and production from 1959-1970, when Benny Motzfeld took over, as you state on your site. Originally, Duborgh's craft was pottery, and from 1970 he returned to that full time, setting up his own workshop. 

I own quite a few of his (and Benny Motzfeld's) PLUS pieces, including a cobalt blue version of your Duborgh vase, purchased just last weekend. 

Throughout the highly politicized 1970?s, PLUS gradually broke up, as the artists associated with the movement engaged in the heated debate over whether their skills should be used to create political art, or merely fill bougouise homes with pleasant objects. By 1978, PLUS disintegrated totally, and officially came to an end. 1500 choice and/or representative objects (glass, textiles, pottery etc.) were donated to Fredrikstad Museum (Fredrikstad being the town where PLUS was located). 

...In their time, PLUS was an influential movement in Norway, producing some very good arts and crafts objects, improving people's tastes and homes, and it was a very good school for up-and-coming artists. For a while, PLUS was largely forgotten, but now, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its birth (and the 30th anniversary of its death), there's a large exhibition here in Norway. [See http://www.nationalmuseum.no/index.php/content/view/full/5642].  It started in Fredrikstad, moves on the Museum of applied Arts in Oslo in January, and then on to Sweden. There's also a book being published. 

Anyway, good luck on finding more PLUS around the world, and keep up the good work on your site! I keep recommending it to my friends.

Yours
Morten

OSLO NORWAY

Height: 26cm
Width: 11cm
Weight: 1kg

Acid etched "PLUS NORWAY" to the base

Condition: unpolished pontilmark (see picture), very light wear to the base

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Our Reference: 2148

This item has sold for US $132.00

We only sell beautiful glass