In the early 1960s, the David-Andersen Company again
needed a new dynamic designer to modernize the company image and update
the production lines along with the recent development of taste. Bjørn
Sigurd Østern was chosen, and he was to work with the company on
a regular basis 1961-73 as well as from 1974 until 1985. Studying at the
National College of Art and Design (NCAD) 1956-61, Østern had been
awarded 'Best Student'. He spent 1963 in the US on a scholarship from
the diamond company 'de Beers Consolidated Mines' and he helt exhibitions
in New York in 1964 and 1965. Østern and Harry Sørby, who
had been with David-Andersen sinse 1929, were the leading designers of
the company in the sixties and seventies, contributing to a new and modern
look that continued the company's already strong tradition of Scandinavian
Design.
This was an era of new interest in jewelry with a particular focus on
silver. At his best, Østern's style is vigorous with personal qualities
in daring colors and structures. When in 1964 D-A launched the Troll Series,
Bjørn Sigurd Østern contributed together with five other
designers working with the David-Andersen company or with the studio of
Uni David-Andersen. One of Østern's most well known pieces, a stylized
boat shaped silver pendant named Bjørns Lykkebåt (Bjørns
Ship of Good Fortune) was part of this series. With a Norwegian blue/green
Amazonite or red/pink Thulite at it's center, it points towards the typical
Østern design from this period, featuring bold silver combining
the Scandinavian Design of the 1950s with stones or monochrome enamel.
In 1966 Østern lounched a new series of jewelry in silver, characterized
by the use of enamel in bright colors and modern but also nostalgic forms
inspired by ancient Nordic symbols. Although Østern was of the
greatest importance for the jewelry design at David-Andersen, he also
designed corpus pieces/silver hollow-ware. Sometimes sculpturous jewelry
in a playful way borrowed their forms from the corpus production.
In 1973-74 Bjørn Sigurd Østern worked with the company
of Per Killingmo, Oslo, where he designed some very characteristic pieces
of kinetic jewelry, repetitively put together of smaller elements. The
style, being experimental and highly expressive, bridges the later small
scale production of hand made jewelry from Østern's own workshop,
which he has run since 1960, using techniques demanding countless hours
of patient work.
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Silver brooch,
for David-Andersen, 1962.
Pendant, the 'Troll Series'
silver with enamel, 1966.
Brooch, the 'Troll Series'
silver and Amazonite, 1964.
Silver pendant,
for P. Killingmo, 1973-74.
Silver bracelet,
own workshop, 1990s.
Pendant for David-Andersen,
silver with enamel, 1972.
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