RAWcollection

Bente Kristensen's diary;

My father was trained as a carver at Randers Technical School. After graduating, he worked for a few years in a furniture carpentry. As I remember it, we moved to Langå in approx. 1956, because my father had got a job at Nissens Trævarefabrik.

As carver, my father was very skilled and a true master at working with wood, so perhaps that was why he was given the task of making the models of Quistgaards designs. All models were created according to Quistgaard's fine drawings, which I remember lying everywhere in my father's cozy workshop. Quistgaard often visited at the factory so there was a lot of talking and discussions about the designs. Many working hours were put into the workshop, both evenings and weekends, when models had to be made for exhibitions in the USA.

I have seen my father both cut the bamboo triangles with a piece of tool, sawn on a very fine saw. It had to be adapted and glued into the cut-out. 

That's probably how 13 years busy years went, when my father worked with models and also became a foreman for the production. Nissen became a very large factory with many employees and the factory meant progress and development in Langå.

My father died in 1969 - the same year I finished school. Richard Nissen offered me an apprenticeship in the office. It turned into 16 educational years where I was mostly involved in export. In the beginning, only exports were made by Dansk Designs, with the majority being exported to the USA. Later, Richard Nissen started design in its own name and bought Stonewarefactory Kronjyden, so it became many full containers with both wooden goods and stoneware that left the factory in Langå. In the mid-70s, Richard Nissen took over Flemming Digsmed Design in Roskilde. Flemming Digsmeds Design was then also produced and sold from the factory in Langå. I have participated in many fairs abroad and sold our products to enthusiastic customers from all over the world.