In 1955, Ole Winther, a Danish ceramist, designed the "Viking" wine carafe for Holmegaard.
The "Viking" series was designed as large style carafes with a stylized viking head medallion embossed on the surface.
The design started in 1955 as a made to order piece by Holmegaard, and available only in green. During the 1960's, Holmegaard put the piece into general production. It was at the time that general production began that the viking medallion was added and additional colors were made available.
The "Viking" carafes continued in production until sometime around the mid 1970's.
The carafes were machine blown, but they were designed with a coarse look to give them an old style, handmade glass appearance. To achieve the old look, bubbles and ripples were reproduced in the glass. An over-sized pour spout was hand-formed and applied to the rim of the carafe.
The carafes came in two sizes; one size as shown here, and the other with a large body that is often called the "Fat Viking". There were five colors offered; Cobalt Blue, Gold, Amber, Light Blue and Smoke Gray.
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