Glit Iceland

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Inspired by the Icelandic landscape which the mineral, clay and lava were taken from, Glit Reykjavik Pottery was the only ceramic factory in Iceland when it was founded by Ragnar Kjartansson, sculptor and ceramic artist (b.1923 - d.1989) in 1958.

Kjartansson founded Glit together with Einar Eliasson, Pétur Saemundsen. Kjartansson was a member of the Icelandic Sculptors Society, which he established in the Icelandic capital in 1972. Glit was adamantly devoted to utilising Icelandic clay and ground minerals in production during its first decade of operation—especially hardened lava. In many ways, the studio, was well ahead of its time — making deep impressions in the history of Icelandic ceramic art.

Many of the country’s best-known 20th-century artists worked at Glit at one point or another, the place became known as an artistic breeding ground, especially during the time when Ragnar was in charge of the manufacturing workshop at Othinsgata. Technological advances and the desire to increase production led Glit to shift gears, moving them from Iceland’s history of art and design and into its industrial histo


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