Royal Copenhagen "Young Adventurers" plates
In 1990, Bing & Grondahl issued a plate, which was named "Young Adventurers". B&G set the stage for the series to continue, but still this plates ended up with being the only one in this series. The plate depicts a little boy who goes out on the high seas in mother's wash tub. With him on his trip is the family dog who keeps an eye on the sail, made by the father's nightshirt. The 1990 Bing & Grondahl Young Adventurers plate was issued in underglaze and was designed by Sven Vestergaard.
In 1998, Royal Copenhagen resumed the series with the Little Daredevils, still decorated by Sven Vestergaard. The motif of the first Royal Copenhagen Plate with young daredevils shows a little girl who is taking courage to jump off the edge of the roof with an umbrella in her hand. However she is sensible enough to send the teddybear out on the first trip to see how it goes. Beside the girl is a cat sitting watching the scenario.
The second plate of Royal Copenhagen plates with young adventures depicts a small boy who is in the process of trying to be an angler. He is balancing dangerously on the boat's edge, while he pulls the fishing line back in boat - but ah, there is only an old boot, while the fish are jumping around in the water beside him. The dog is in the boat and is an avid participant in the hunt. In the bow of the boat a teddybear, who has also got a fishing hat on his head, is sitting
The motif of the third plate from 2000 in the Little Adventurers series shows three children who experiment with the art of flying. Big brother and sister holding the kite, while little brother keeps the tail and is close to getting flying with the kite. The dog jumps around beside the three and is well aware that something is wrong. As an added feature, the designer Sven Vestergaard, has painted eyes and mouth on the kite.
In 2001, the plate depicts a little boy and girl whom are sliding down the staircase banister. The two little ones can get some really fun trips down the stairs at full speed, but they will fall hard if an accident occurs. In the middle of the stairs is a teddybear who is testifying that they have sent him down the banister before they started themselves.
The Royal Copenhagen porcelain plate with Young Adventures from 2002 shows a boy and girl on the beach. The jetty is stable in the water, but the two children have found a board to jump from. The boy stands on one side of the board and holds it down with his weight, while the girl is counting down to the big leap. In the water the dog is waiting for his playmates. In the background is one of the small towns, located along the coast, with the lighthouse centrally located.
The last Young Adventurers plate which was published in 2003, shows a few children who are grappling with a hot air balloon. The balloon is made of a solid, old water trough which must be supported by a lot of balloons attached to the sides of the trough. Both the girl and the boy are in the process of blowing up balloons, so they get enough buoyancy to carry the basket.
Sven Vestergaard is good at creating plates with both serious and charming expression. He makes us all smile and think back at our own experiments when we were small ourselves or our own children's explorations of life.
We are e-approved