Heller One Quart Casserole Reunited

You guys know how much I like the Heller Bakeware items designed by Vignelli - I try to pick up even parts when I get a chance. About a year ago I came across the lid to a round, one quart casserole (technically it's the "Au Gratin Cover") - I think I paid $0.94 for it and bought it since it was in good shape (no chips, cracks, etc.). I see these occasionally as singles - I think what happens is that half gets broken - the glass can be a bit brittle as already discussed - so the remaining piece ends up in the donation pile.

In any case, yesterday while running errands I stopped by Goodwill and found the mating bottom for $1.91:

So here they are, reunited once again...

One Quart Casserole with Au Gratin Cover Height: (Including cover) 12.7cm (5″)
Diameter: 21.1 cm (8.25″)

I love happy endings!

-- John

Dansk Kobenstyle Small Baking Dish

I actually found this and photographed it back in October - yes it's been a while since I posted and I figured I'd get caught up a bit. I was walking into Goodwill and saw a woman carrying out a bright red Dansk bread pan and was hopeful there were other pieces left behind. I spotted this small baking pan on the end-cap towards the back of the kitchen aisle, otherwise it had been picked clean.

This is the smaller of the two (maybe 3?) sizes available from Dansk in the Kobenstyle pattern,  roughly 11" x 8" x 2" of baking area, featuring enamels of bright red and white and the iconic Jens Quistgaard designed handles adorning the ends.

This is certainly the best condition baking pan example I've found in the wild. Previously I found the larger pan for $2 at a Last Chance Thrift Store, however I still haven't gotten all the black gunk off of it - seems it was used more frequently than it was cleaned.

Apparently Goodwill (or at least this particular location) has learned that there is some value to these - either that or the particularly good condition inspired them to bump the price up a bit. At $8.58 it was still a bargain, but much more than, say a cheap Wilton pan used at around $3.

This example is marked Dansk International Designs LTD IHQ/France with the copyright symbol.

 I'm just enamored (sic) with the handles on the pans - much of the attraction for me are the design elements.

This pan along with siblings from the line are once again available at Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Crate and Barrel - this example would put you back about $80 but you might be able to find one on sale.

-- John

Cocobolo Tiles - Place Mats?

Not much to report of late - I've picked up the "this-and-that" but nothing that I would consider cool. Sometime in early February I did find this item at Goodwill - what caught my eye was the intense color and grain. Picking them up was an experience as they are about twice as heavy as I would have expected. Upon closer examination I realized that the tiles are cocobolo - if you're not familiar with the wood, it's in the rosewood family and quite prized - it's also very expensive. The whole stack was wrapped in celo so I couldn't really tell what it was, but I figured at minimum the tiles could be reused in my woodworking.

Unfolding the stack revealed two flexible mats with the tiles joined by mono-filament:

My apologies for the blurry photos - I didn't realize how bad they were until I posted - however you can get the gist and there's enough detail so you can see how beautiful they are. Each mat has at least one tile "loose" where the mono-filament has broken - easy to repair. I think they may be Danish in origin but really don't know as I haven't seen them before.

I'm thinking about stitching the two together into a single centerpiece - thoughts on that? They may have originally been together for just that, or they may be place mats (one is a tile row wider than the other). No markings that I could find. If you have any info or if you've seen them before, please let me know - I'd like to identify them.

-- John

Dansk Teak End-Cut Coaster Set

I'm finally getting around to December and January finds - fairly "slim-pickings" from those two months or perhaps I'm just getting too choosy. In any case, I found these 8 coasters at Goodwill - they had the two rubber bands around them as shown, wrapped in plastic with a $1.92 price on them.

They looked great and even better once I got them home. I don't believe they were ever used - so these are keepers.

Dansk would normally market these in sets of 4 so I'm presuming that these 8 are actually two sets. Also, Dansk would normally mark the edge of at least one coaster with a small "Dansk" imprint - I've looked these over and couldn't find one so these are potentially knock-offs. However they are so nice it doesn't matter to me, plus they are extremely functional.

I'm particularly fond of the butcher-block end-grain cut of similar cutting boards. I find the grain patterning entrancing. Sorry about the glare on these - they aren't high-polish but due to the wood's hardness and silica content, they tend to reflect light.

More to come...

-- John