Orrefors Crystal & Glass - Sweden

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One of the world's most celebrated makers of beautiful crystal is named for a beautiful place. Orrefors is a waterfall that tumbles into Lake Orrenas in the Kingdom of Glass - the Smaaland region where Sweden's glassmaking industry has thrived for over 250 years.

Orrefors was founded in 1898 and by the first decade of the 20th century, was well known for functional glass. But they had a larger vision. In 1915 the famed Swedish artist Simon Gate was hired to elevate the Orrefors product and help to build a reputation for artistic excellence. In 1916 he was joined by Edward Hald, a protege of Matisse. These two also recruited some of the era's most skilled craftspeople to help develop new glassmaking techniques.

Under the leadership of Gate and Hald, Orrefors began an excursion into art glass and crystal and have expanded to markets and name far beyond Sweden. The Orrefors creative environment became a magnet for yet other leading artists and glassblowers, and the Orrefors brand became collectible, treasured by art museums and individuals worldwide. Now as then, the close collaboration between artist and artisan produces work of surpassing beauty, as you'll see at Fjorn Scandinavian.