By Robin Hecht, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Atglen, PA, 2000. Hardcover, 172 pp. $49.95. Visit www.amazon.com  for ordering information. ISBN 0764310445.

By George Fischler and Barrett Gould, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Atglen, PA, 2000. Hardcover, 160 pp. $49.95. ISBN 0764311638.

About seven years ago this writer wandered into Robin Hecht’s booth at the Art Deco Show in Washington, D.C., and discovered a world of Scandinavian ceramics other than the porcelain commemorative plates and figurines associated with Royal Copenhagen or Bing & Grondahl. Ms. Hecht had a wonderful display of stoneware mostly in the earth tones so loved by the Scandinavians. She graciously answered the fusillade of questions with which she was bombarded and observed that no comprehensive book on Scandinavian pottery was available in English. Later that year in a desperate search to slake my thirst for knowledge about my newly found interest I purchased a reference in Swedish dealing with marks on pottery, but I am no more proficient in Swedish than in Dalmatian. Thus it was a pleasure to learn a few years later that Ms. Hecht had published Scandinavian Art Pottery: Denmark and Sweden, a text that continues today being the most useful volume in English on the subject.

It begins with an excellent introduction that the reader should not skip and then examines the major Danish factories (Royal Copenhagen, Bing & Gr┐ndahl, Saxbo, Palshus, Arne Bang, Hjorth, Ipsen, Michael Andersen & Sons, Kahler Keramics, and Nymolle) as well as an impressive array of independent studios from Bode Willumsen to Jorgen Mogensen. Discussions of Gustavsberg, RÜrstrand, and Tobo comprise the section on Swedish factories followed by studies on the workshops of Uppsala-Ekeby, Andersson & Johansen, HÜganŖs, Bo Faience, and Gefle. Under each major factory one finds biographies of their principal artists and designers including the most celebrated names in Scandinavian pottery (Axel Salto, Nathalie Krebs, Arne Bang, Gunnar Nylund, Wilhelm Kīge, and Berndt Friberg to name but a few) as well as potters of lesser renown. Even Henning Koppel, the silversmith for Georg Jensen, receives mention as a potter.

A major defect of Scandinavian Art Pottery is the lack of an index. The ceramicists of the area were itinerant kiln-hoppers, no different than the potters of North Carolina or of Weller, Roseville, Owens, etc. who moved from one pottery to another. Thus in the case of this book, one must be aware of where the various potters practiced their craft in order to unearth information about them. In some instances there are several sections on individuals because they were active at more than one location. Even a good table of contents would have alleviated this problem, but unfortunately the existing table does not list the potters discussed.

Scandinavian Art Pottery: Denmark and Sweden is nonetheless a valuable resource on the potteries of these two countries. It contains an abundance of good photographs, all in color, with descriptions, measurements, and price estimates of each; and there are pictures of marks on the base of many of the pots. Too often authors or publishers neglect reproducing the underside of the pots, an omission frustrating to those attempting to identify a piece in their own collection.

Scandinavian Ceramics and Glass:1940s to 1980s repeats some of the information in the Hecht volume but adds other data. Its focus, as its title implies, is a bit more recent as well as broader. Scandinavia in most dictionaries is defined linguistically as Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland, but some geographers include Finland in the definition, and fortunately Messrs. Fischler and Gould have opted for the latter; otherwise we would have no coverage of the Finnish pottery, Arabia (pronounced Ah-RAH-bee-ah; it does not sound like Saudi Arabia).

Scandinavian Ceramics and Glass contains approximately 115 pages on the pottery of Denmark, Finland, Sweden and even a page on Iceland as well as a short but useful appendix of "Biographies of Artists." Since this volume also lacks an index and a detailed table of contents, the appendix is sometimes the best way to learn a bit about an individual potter in order to ascertain in which section of the book the authors study him or her. Unfortunately the information in the text is very general. The descriptions accompanying the excellent photos, all in color, contain some of the most helpful data. The principal complaint with these descriptions is that they often omit the measurements of the pots. Thus the price estimate is of little use since we do not know if we are looking at a three inch or ten inch vase. The authors show photos of Nils Thorsson’s Baca line of pots (although they never identify it as such). In four cases they give an estimate which is of no help because Royal Copenhagen issued these four pots in at least three sizes and there is no way of knowing which size they picture.

The book also reproduces the bottoms of some pots and covers the work of a few potters whom Ms. Hecht does not examine in her volume. Messrs, Fischler and Gould also include photographs of some dinnerware although they, too, deal principally with the stoneware production of the factories. They even introduce a photo of a Dansk sugar and creamer by Jens Quistgaard although they neglect to identify it as "Flamestone" and do not mention that Dansk is and always has been a firm located in New York City. Nonetheless, since Dansk’s designers are Danish, there certainly is ample reason to consider them in this book.

The brief 40 page section on the glass of Denmark, Finland, and Sweden is of less value because there are several reference works in English on the field of Scandinavian glass, but all in all Scandinavian Ceramics and Glass serves as a nice supplement to the Hecht volume because it examines some areas the latter does not explore.