Pokal

The museum’s magnificent goblet won the Grand Prix for the jewellery firm J. Tostrup at the 1900 Paris Exposition, and helped Norwegian applied art to gain international renown.

The goblet, made with the luminous plique-à-jour enamelling technique, was designed by the architect Torolf Prytz and produced by the jewellery firm J. Tostrup for the 1900 Paris Exposition. This complex technique was rediscovered in France in the 1860s, but was utilised by Norwegian jewellery firms and developed further to a particularly high level around 1900. Torolf Prytz was the first to experiment with plique-à-jour in Norway in the early 1880s, and in 1888 J. Tostrup succeeded in creating objects in a small format.

International attention

An impressive collection of larger works was produced for the 1900 Paris Exposition, earning Tostrup international recognition. The firm was the only Norwegian participant to be awarded the Grand Prix, and Tostrup’s pieces attracted considerable attention. The enamel works made by other Norwegian jewellery firms were compared with French and Russian pieces. Critics, however, emphasised that the Norwegian works were larger and executed with greater mastery, and that they deserved to be fashioned of pure gold, not merely gilded silver.  

Exploited the possibilities inherent in the technique

This goblet features an egg-shaped dome and cover that is supported by a bouquet of red carnations, which are also made with the plique-à-jour technique. Here the designer has fully exploited the potential of this costly technique, in both the transparent light effects of the enamel’s colours and the delicate lines of the wires. Plique-à-jour works like this, with their international art nouveau influences, helped to give Norwegian decorative art a place in the international spotlight.