WILHELM KÅGE (1889-1960)
1939
Sweden
Glazed ceramic, silver
18 1/2″ diameter x 4″ deep

Wilhelm Kåge was trained as a decorative painter and graphic designer. In 1917, he became artistic director of the Gustavsberg porcelain factory, where he remained until 1949. His most successful line was the green-glazed Argenta with its graceful Art Deco silver inlay. The glaze here is the rarer garnet, which offsets the inlaid silver mermaids and fishes quite gorgeously. This bowl was created for the Swedish industrialist Carl Gunnar Rising in 1939, and the inscription on the back, roughly translated, reads “from your golf friends.” Kåge’s Argenta pieces remain highly collectible, and this is a quite large and one-of-a-kind example.