Roland Landerholm vintage pewter jewelry
Roland Landerholm vintage pewter jewelry (1950-1970s)
The history of R Landerholm hand-signed modernist jewelry began in the 1950s in Sweden. Originally a ceramic workshop, “Handelsbolaget Ahlby Keramik Landerholm & Söner” was a family owned business. Its founders were the three brothers Henry, Leif and Roland. Thanks to Roland Landerholm (1928-1993), who was a gifted artist and goldsmith, their workshop began to produce jewelry in addition to pottery. Roland’s modernist and avant-garde designer jewelry quickly brought success to the company. Widely exported abroad, today these jewelry pieces, mainly made in 1950-1970s, are highly collectible, the price of which increases every year.
Noteworthy, Roland’s jewelry designs very rarely combined pewter and ceramic, and for good reason. Very critical of his art, Roland used to break his creations when he was dissatisfied with his creation. Therefore, there is so little jewelry with ceramics, and little is known about his ceramic artworks.
The markings traditionally include “R Landerholm” (often inscribed by the designer himself) and “Tenn”, the Swedish word for tin. Also, Swedish jewelry normally has a triple crown of three crown insignia, signifying Sweden.