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	Thorvald Bindesbøll: Artichoke Bowl
	A. Michelsen: Artichoke Bowl 1898 Designed by Thorvald Bindesbøll Height: 9.2 cm Weight: 422 g MKH 614x41. Donated 2000 by Udviklingsfonden for Museet på Koldinghus Literature: Poul Dedenroth-Schou: Thorvald Bindesbøll and the Silversmiths. 1997, p. 21.   This bowl, entitled Artichoke Bowl after its shape, was designed by Thorvald Bindesbøll in February 1898, and is considered to mark the beginning of the new silverworking tradition that Bindesbøll created for the Danish Court Jeweller A. Michelsen, who in the period leading up to the World Exhibition held in Paris in 1900 was the most prominent silversmith in Denmark. The works of Thorvald Bindesbøll attracted considerable attention both in Denmark and abroad, and the artist completely revolutionised Danish artistic silverwork. The position of Georg Jensen and Danish silver in general as the undisputed international leaders in twentieth-century silverware has its origins in the design work of Thorvald Bindesbøll. The Artichoke Bowl is heavily influenced by Japanese art, which at that time constituted the main source of inspiration for artists attempting to break with the traditional mix of artistic styles. The earliest traces of Japanese influence in Bindesbøll's ceramic works can be see most clearly in a vase from 1906, on display at Museet på Koldinghus.   The Koldinghus bowl from 1898 - the year in which the design was actually created - is probably the first copy of the Artichoke Bowl ever produced. The six of these bowls that Museet på Koldinghus knew to be in existence at the time were put on display in the museum's major Bindesbøll exhibition, held in 1997. These bowls were produced in the period 1900-20. Since then, copies produced in 1921 and 1927 have come to light. Most recently, this copy from 1898 was discovered and subsequently acquired by the museum.