The world's first producer of Mothers Day plates
In addition to publishing the world's first Christmas plate in 1895, Bing & Grondahl was also the first porcelain factory to release Mother's Day plates. In 1969, Bing & Grondahl released their first Mother's Day plate. This first Mother's Day plate was designed by Henry Thelander and features a motif of a cocker spaniel dog with its puppies.
Since then, the motifs on Bing & Grondahl's Mother's Day plates have been of animals with their young ones, and the focus has always been on a mother's care for her children. The series continues to this day, and you can find a complete overview of all the years on this page.
Jubilee Mother's Day plates
Bing & Grondahl chose to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first Mother's Day plate in 1979 by releasing a Bing & Grondahl Jubilee Mother's Day plate. The motif on this B&G plate is the same as on the Mother's Day plate from 1969, a cocker spaniel with puppies. Since then, a Jubilee Mother's Day plate has been released every fifth year, with a motif from one of the previously released Mother's Day plates, but in a larger size. Therefore, you can find Bing & Grondahl Jubilee Mother's Day plates in the following years:
Bing & Grondahl Mother's Day Anniversary Plate 1979 with a motif of a Cocker Spaniel with puppies.
Bing & Grondahl Mother's Day Anniversary Plate 1984 with a motif of a swan with its young.
Bing & Grondahl Mother's Day Anniversary Plate 1989 with a motif of a horse with its foal.
Bing & Grondahl Mother's Day Anniversary Plate 1994 with a motif of a woodpecker with its young.
Bing & Grondahl Mother's Day Anniversary Plate 1999 with a motif of a panda with its young.
Bing & Grondahl Mother's Day Anniversary Plate 2004 with a motif of a Saint Bernard with its puppies.
Bing & Grondahl Mother's Day Anniversary Plate 2009 with a motif of a cat with its kittens.
How can the Mother's Day plates be used today?
Bing & Grondahl's Mother's Day plates are not only beautiful to look at. These small, Danish blue and white plates can actually be used for multiple purposes!
In addition to being hung on the wall and creating beautiful patterns and combinations with other plates, Bing & Grondahl's Mother's Day plates are also perfect for creating a festive atmosphere on the table. - You are actually allowed to eat off of them!
The style and method is the same as that used on Bing & Grondahl's Christmas plates, where white porcelain is decorated with beautiful blue color using underglaze technique. This technique also allows you to put your plates in the dishwasher after use. Your Bing & Grondahl Mother's Day plates can therefore quickly become Mother's Day plates, where you can serve small dishes, cake, and other delicacies.
You can also consider using the cute Mother's Day plates as part of a unique cake stand. At DPH Trading, we offer the option of having holes drilled in your plates so you can create a beautiful cake stand or tiered servers, which you can arrange everything from sushi and tapas to cake and fruit. It may be advantageous to use both the regular Mother's Day plates and the Anniversary Mother's Day plates, so you get layers in different sizes.
Great gift ideas for the woman that gave you life
There are many ideas for the perfect Mother's Day gift, but how about something sweet and a little fun? With Bing & Grondahl Mother's Day plates, you give your mother a sweet little memory of you that doesn't cost a fortune, but still has a charm to it. The Mother's Day plate is a thoughtful and fine gift for all mothers.
Is your mother more into figurines than plates? From 1986 to 2007, Bing & Grondahl also released a Mother's Day figurine, with the same design as that year's Mother's Day plate. Additionally, Bing & Grondahl has also released a range of other sweet figurines that will delight your mother, including figurines of mother and child.
When is Mother's Day?
Mother's Day in Denmark is always on the 2nd Sunday in May. This is also the case in the USA, while other countries, such as Norway and Sweden, have Mother's Day on other days.
The artists of the series
From 1969 until 1988 Henry Thelander (1902-1986) was the artist of the plates until 1989 where Leif Ragn Jensen took over and continued the tradition.
Leif Ragn Jensen was an obviously choice as designer, because he as painter had painted many portraits of the Mother nature's animals. The first Mothers Day plate created by Leif Ragn Jensen shows a cow with calf.
Leif Ragn Jensen created three Mothers Day plates for Bing & Grondahl before handing the responsibility over to Allan Therkelsen. His first Mothers Day plate depicts a panda with her young.
When he had created 4 Mothers Day plates, he forwarded the honour to Les Didier. An American artist who had painted many birds and animals.
Les Didier designed two plates before Bing & Grondahl started to work with Finn Clausen. From 1999 until 2011 he has created all Mothers Day plates with great success.
Afterwards, Allan Therkelsen took over again from 2012 until today.
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