Just Andersen Disko Metall Vase c.1920

Renowned and now highly collected Danish-Greenlandic sculptor and designer Just Andersen (1884-1943) created this beautiful vase in the style known as Art Nouveau or Jugendstil (Youth Style), but which is also reminiscent of ancient Egypt or classical antiquity. Made of cast disko metal it dates from c.1918 to the 1920s. Andersen created a unique metal alloy he named disko metal after Disko Bay in Greenland, where he was born. His works are the only ones made from this unique alloy, which is close to but not the same as bronze, since he left no record of the exact make up of the metal. In his early career he worked for the famed company of Georg Jensen, before opening his own brand firm in 1918. He also contributed numerous designs to the Swedish firm GAB (Guldsmedsaktiebolaget - which translates as Goldsmiths Company). This vase is marked with his distinctive signature, the name Just inside a triangular letter A, the model number D 88 and the sign for disko metal within an inverted triangle. Height 12.2cm x diameter 10.7cm.