This weekend was mostly a working weekend for me so I wasn’t able to get out to any sales. To avoid going into total withdrawal, I did make a quick stop at a thrift store and, fortunately, got my fix in the form of a sunshine yellow Dansk Kobenstyle 10-inch buffet server (often called a paella pan).
This enameled cookware is quickly becoming one of my favorite things to look for. Introduced in 1955, Kobenstyle was one of the earliest designs Danish designer Jens Quistgaard created for Dansk. The line was an immediate success and I suspect that had quite a bit to do with their bright colors and graceful three-point handles.
This is now part of a small but growing collection I’ve started. But I immediately noticed that the stamp on this piece was different than my others. While my other pans are marked “Dansk Designs France,” this piece had the older four ducks Dansk logo and was marked “Denmark.”
A quick search let me to a History Repeated blog post that revealed Dansk used a Danish supplier for Kobenstyle from 1955 to 1965 before switching to a French manufacturer from 1966 on. I also learned that this particular mark wasn’t used until around 1960, meaning this piece was produced between 1960-1965.
So, what about my other pieces? The gold casserole and bowl are both marked “Dansk Designs France.”
When production moved to France in late 1965, yellow and turquoise were dropped from the line and replaced with sun gold and a deeper blue. Gold remained a production color until the line was discontinued in 1985, however Dansk changed their name to Dansk International in 1976. That would place these two pieces between 1965 and 1976. The large blue buffet server is marked “Dansk International.”
Blue was discontinued in 1975 before the name change, but was reintroduced in 1977 and ran until 1985. That range is where this piece would fall. Not that the dates matter all that much compared to the beauty of these pieces. If you plan to start looking for these you should note that Dansk reintroduced Kobenstyle in 2012 in blue, red and white. A few colors of the original production were only made for a few years and may be harder to find. These include orange, black, white or any shade of green—each of which were only produced for one to two years.
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