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Yngve Olsson

 

In 1925, on the 25th anniversary of the Kalo Shop, several Kalo silversmiths presented founder Clara Barck Welles with a commemorative silver tray.  The tray was oval, about 19 inches long with eight alternating long and short lobes, and an applied CBW monogram at each end.  Engraved in the middle was an inscription:

 

 

The silversmiths signed their names back:  Peter L. Berg, Arne Myhre, Y. Olsson, John H. Cook, Bjarne O. Axness, Daniel Pederson, Einar Johansen, Wm. Ketter and Robert Bower.

 

In 1940, when Welles retired, she handed the store over to four of these men -- Bower, Myhre, Pedersen, and Olsson.  Bower was the shopmaster, Olsson the chief designer.  According to Sharon Darling's Chicago Metalsmiths, while most of the forms produced by the Kalo Shop were designed by Welles, Olsson "contributed some original ideas." 

 

The striking scalloped round brooch with chased and cutout details below is very similar to one made by the Kalo Shop.   This piece highlights three round cabochon bezel-set amber stones with open backs.  The Kalo version we've seen has amethysts instead.  The cross-hatched chasing that creates "shadows" on one side of the leaves is not typical of Kalo detail work.  The mark on the piece is HANDWROUGHT / STERLING / [overlapping YO mark], and the initial "H" is lowercase (see marks below).

 

Brooch, silver, round with scalloped edge, slightly convex, centering chased and cutout

curving field of flowers and leaves.  Three blossoms each center a round cabochon bezel-set

 amber stone with an open back.  Very similar to one made by Kalo. 2" round.

 

Olsson created silver items like this on his own, at his home workshop.  Peter and Rod Tinkler, silver dealers and experts, wrote an excellent piece on Olsson for the July/August 1999 issue of Silver Magazine, which contained several striking examples of Olsson's private work, and a short biography:

 

"Born of Swedish parents in Copenhagen on 16 April 1896, Olsson was the oldest of four sons. His father was a shoemaker and his mother a tailor. After his basic education in Copenhagen, Olsson attended a trade school and then served an apprenticeship in metalworking…. In 1918 Olsson emigrated to the United States of America, working his way across the Atlantic on a freighter. To ensure himself United States citizenship, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in April 1918. Following basic training in California, he joined other U.S. troops in Siberia guarding the Trans-Siberian Railroad. In November 1919 Olsson was discharged from the army and shortly thereafter joined the Kalo Shop in Chicago as a silversmith.

 

"When Olsson joined the Kalo Shop in late 1919 or early 1920, Clara Welles was in her early fifties and still actively involved in the workshop and retail shop, then located at 416 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Olsson was hired to serve as a principal silversmith, designer, chaser, and enameler."

 

They also quote a letter written in 1986 by Robert Bower:  "You name it, [Olsson] did it. That is why the Kalo shop closed in 1970. We could not get along without him. I had told him so a number of times, that he was 'Mr. Kalo.' Never find another like him."

 

This server, like the bowl below, was made in the Danish taste.  Like the other Olsson works here, it is lovely in design and execution.   The Olsson marks vary from piece to piece -- this one is the overlapping YO mark above three wavy lines /  STERLING.

 

Server with curving spade-shaped blade.  Handle is joined to blade with two spreading stylized

 chased leaves then loops back and underneath where it meets a silver ball and leaf and connects

with the underside of the handle.  Two chased lines on top of handle. 8-11/16" L and 2-7/16" W.

 

The bracelet below is signed with one of the Olsson ciphers -- an overlapping Y and O above three short parallel wavy lines.  The bowl below is marked with the other, a Y inside an O without any lines beneath:

 

 

Olsson's bracelet is of the same basic form and dimension as a typical Kalo bracelet.  It is made of five oval links joined with small silver loops.  The links are saw-pierced, and chased with a high degree of skill.  But there are stylistic differences between this bracelet and one with a Kalo mark.  The chasing here is heavier and broader than on a typical Kalo piece.  And while the clasp employs a spring clip with a cross-hatched element used at times by the Kalo Shop, the concave locking receptacle is one not seen on other Kalo jewelry.

 

Bracelet, sterling, composed of five round pierced and heavily worked links joined by silver loops.   Three

 links have three large blossoms, and two have three curving leaves.  Sturdy clasp with cross-hatching and

safety chain.  7" L and 7/8" W with 2-1/4" L safety chain.

 

The footed Olsson bowl below clearly shows a Danish influence.   The three repeated loops and applied bead decoration are in the Scandinavian taste, and somewhat resemble regal crowns.   It is heavy and well made, with lightly hammered surfaces.

 

Bowl, sterling, round, on cylindrical ring foot with flat applied wire at bottom, with three sets of evenly

 spaced groups of three applied loops at the edge.  Loops are made from square-section wire with a row

of twelve silver beads on the edge where the loops are joined, and two larger silver beads on the outside

between the middle loop and the ones on either end.  Engraved "A / C - N / 1921 October 28 1946" on

bottom in script.  9" W across handle and 2-1/16" H.

 

In the Silver Magazine piece, the authors showcase some of Olsson's enamel work.  While we can't be certain, since Welles generally prohibited her employees from adding their signatures or identifying marks to Kalo objects, the enamel work shown in Silver Magazine is very similar to enamel work we've found with the Kalo mark.  Quite possibly the Kalo pieces below were done by or under the supervision of Olsson.

 

Item	Description	Size	Marks
	Brooch / pin, butterfly-form, with detailed insect body and antennae surrounded by four-part wings decorated with cloisonné enamel cells in blue, orange, black, red, and green colors	1-3/4" W and 1-1/4" H	KALO STERLING
	Cufflinks, pair (2), rectangular, with five-color (blue-orange-red-green-black) geometric, diamond-shaped enamel design on slightly convex surface, hinged links.	13/16" L and 9/16" W and 7/8" D	KALO STERLING
	Cufflinks, pair (2), rectangular, with two-color (dark blue and light blue) geometric, diamond-shaped enamel design on slightly convex surface, hinged links.	13/16" L and 9/16" W and 13/16" D	HAND / WROUGHT STERLING  KALO
	Brooch / pin, with thick spiraling wirework at the top and sides alternating with four stylized flowers that extend over the wirework and join each other, centering chased and enameled flowers in blue, green and red, one with yellow details, on an oval silver center dome	2" W and 1-3/4" H	STERLING KALO

 

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