hans bolling wooden animals Hans Bolling Designer

Hans Bolling (b. 1931), Denmark.

Hans Bolling Danish Designer:

Hans Bolling is a Danish designer who became famous for his mid-century modern themed Danish wooden toy figurines. During the course of his lifetime, Danish architect/designer Hans Bolling (Hans Bølling) enjoyed the connection between design and fun like many of his Danish contemporaries including Kay Bojesen. Born in 1931 in a small town of Braband in Denmark, Hans Bolling attended an Art- and Handcraft School originally to become an advertising designer, however some years later he followed his passion for architecture and graduated as an architect from the Royal Danish Art Academy.

Hans Bolling Wooden Animals & Figurines:

Hans Bolling designed a plethora of art works, ranging from wooden figurines, wooden animals and furniture to villas, living complexes and town halls. Oscar the Dog and his Duck came to life in the 1950s during Hans Bolling's younger years, following the architect's interest in nature and animals. Here he decided to create small figures of animal figurines for his loved ones. Later, after winning an award he received a carpentry machine, which afforded him the opportunity to carve his beloved figures into wood. It is at this point during the Danish spring that the Mermaid, Dog and the Duck, and later its offspring - the Hans Bolling Duck and Duckling, were born.

Hans Bolling Duck:

A Danish classic, the wooden Duck designed by Hans Bolling in 1959 is a beloved classic of Scandinavian design. The Ducks are reminiscent of Danish spring, with mother ducks waltzing proudly around Copenhagen with their young ducklings. One particular spring in 1959 branded this image into the minds of the Danish population, as during the busy days in Frederiksberg a policeman found the time to stop the traffic in order to let a young Duck family pass. It was an extraordinary and meaningful event to the by passers to the point that all the newspapers published a famous photograph of the ducks. This captured moment encapsulates the Danish attention to nature and detail and the ability to appreciate small everyday miracles. Inspired by the charming Duck family, Hans Bølling hence designed a pair of small wooden Duck figures, whose souls carry the essence of peaceful and harmonious Danish spring. Their smooth, wooden curvatures are simple yet sophisticated and inspire subdued serenity and harmony anywhere they are placed, just as they did in spring '59.

Hans Bolling Mermaid:

Think of Denmark and you think of...mermaids? Yes, that beguiling Little Mermaid statue overlooking the water - you know, the one of the mermaid sitting upright on a rock? Little wonder, then, that Danish architect and designer Hans Bolling chose this iconic form in 1954 as the subject for one of his delightful wood sculptures. Hand carved from maple and smoked oak, Mermaid is abstract yet distinctly feminine and...fishy. Her tail moves, as do her upper body and ringed arms, so like real mermaids she's never at rest.

Hans Bolling Oscar Dog:

Oscar was designed with the characteristic joy and care in Hans Bolling's mind, and the little dog is a token of fun and playfulness. Oscar's body can be arranged so that he does everything a normal dog would. He can sit, scrawl, stand, beg or even sulk in the corner if you have been away from him for too long. He is, however, no ordinary dog. The highly specified and elaborate details of Oscar's body add a sophisticated dimension to his form. Every angle, curve and bend has been craftily thought out over the span of a couple of years to convey a highly stylized, yet harmonious aesthetic object. Oscar is an elaborately designed dog with a flair for refined simplicity, which makes you look twice. Oscar was designed in 1953.

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