Erik Magnussen was born in Copenhagen in 1940. He graduated as a potter from the Danish School of Arts and Crafts and Industrial Design in 1960, and was awarded the highest distinction by the school. Although basically a ceramist, Erik Magnussen has worked with many different materials such as porcelain, steel, glass and plastics.
Most of Erik Magnussen's creations are designed with their functional aspects in mind. His ability and desire to overcome problems in usage has resulted in the creation of several commercial successes.
Erik Magnussen has been given many awards because of his ingenious and revolutionary designs. In 1967, Erik Magnussen won the Lunning Prize. This prestigious award which is the equivalent of the "Nobel Prize" in the applied arts circle, is highly regarded by the Scandinavian countries. Other awards are Ole Haslund's Grant, court Jeweler A Michelsen's Jubilee Grant, knud W Engelhardt's Memorial Grant and the Furniture Prize in 1977.
Erik Magnussen is also a four-time winner of the ID-Prize awarded by the Danish Society of Industrial Design. He was chosen "Designer of the Year" in 1983 by the Society.
The Erik Magnussen collection boasts a smooth, bright finish, which creates a simple and aesthetically pleasing appearance. There is also the exquisite "teardrop" detail on almost every item, a security feature placed around an item's rim or base. This is to protect from knocking and marring the smooth surface when they are put together. An item which illustrates this feature is the hipflask. Its ergonomic design and cool appearance has twice won it the Design Plus Award at the Frankfurt International Fair (1989 and 1991), as well as the Formland prize at the Formland Fair in Denmark (1989).
Other designs include the Erik Magnussen lamps that provide all the pleasures of lamplight without the messy maintenance. The duarble fibreglass wicks do not need replacement unlike conventional natural fibre wicks. The base is enclosed within a tall glass lantern, preventing sweeping curtains or wayward papers coming in contact with the flame. It also shields the flame from any breeze, making the lamp perfect for both indoor and outdoor use.
After an exhausting list of tabletop and desktop items, his new 2007 spring designs include sleek wine accessories. Essential to any bar are corkscrews or cork extractors. Using a simple mechanism, Erik Magnussen's cork extractor works like a charm. A selection of push or pull mechanism is available to meet every preference. The traditional corkscrew is also available in this new range.
Serving wine is done in style with Erik Magnussen's range of decanter, wine funnel and wine pourer, flawlessly designed and crafted to maximise the enjoyment of wine drinking. A bottle stopper is also available in the collection. Designed with sensuously recessed finial, it is a tactile piece that is a pleasure to use.
Other accessories to entertain with style are a bottle coaster, bottle cooler and a pitcher. Well designed and crafted, they bear testimony to Erik Magnussen's design philosophy of combining form-and-function.
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