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In 1957, Geoffrey Baxter designed both the Whilefriars Arctic blue “organic” vase at left, 21 inches high, and the small Whitefriars green cased “beak” vase with bubble base, 6 inches.

FOR 11/16

‘NORTHERN LIGHTS’ WILL OPEN AT THE COUNTRY SEAT NOV. 23 w/1 cut

avv/gs set 11/2 #718253

OXFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND — Two decades before Ingmar Bergman’s cinematic genius hit postwar Britain in the 1950s, and before Swedish Modern was all the rage in furnishing and fashion design, a quiet Scandinavian revolution was taking place in the 1930s at a trendsetting British glass factory on the outskirts of London, Whitefriars Glass at Wealdstone, Harrow.

Whitefriars’ innovations over the centuries have been the focus of several significant exhibitions at The Country Seat, near Henley, over recent years. In its medieval tithe barn at Huntercombe Manor Barn, antique dealers Willie Clegg and Harvey Ferry are now presenting “Northern Lights” the Scandinavian trend in Whitefriars glass, a selling exhibition from November 23 to December 8.

Including more than 200 pieces of Whitefriars glass in the Scandinavian style, the show will be complemented by a loan collection from Dr Graham Cooley of glass from Scandinavia.

There were two phases of the Scandinavian invasion at Whitefriars. It all began in 1932, when H.J. Dunne-Cooke, the designer and director for two Scandinavian companies, asked Whitefriars to develop single prototype pieces in Nordic styles, which were a completely new aesthetic for British glassmakers.

The ideas caught on, and were successful throughout the 1930s.

After the war, and the 1951 Festival of Britain, when modern interior design recaptured people’s imaginations, Whitefriars’ Scandinavian trend really took flight. Geoffrey Baxter, their new Royal College of Art-trained designer, was among its chief advocates from the late 1940s right through to the 1960s.

Examples from several designers will be for sale in The Country Seat’s show. Highlights include a rare prototype four-lobed vase by Dunne-Cooke in experimental green glass with raspberry streaks, circa 1932; a green bowl by Barnaby Powell with its opposite sides unexpectedly pinched together, circa 1933; a jazzy emerald green cocktail glass with matte horizontal bands by Bill Wilson, circa 1934; and a huge Arctic blue “organic” vase by Geoffrey Baxter, circa 1957 — at 21 inches high the tallest hand-blown vase ever made at Whitefriars.

Characteristic Scandinavian influences were subtle, cool colors — Arctic blue, deep forest green, hazy gray and violet, and “helion,” a blend of colors of the evening sky. Whitefriars, with their heritage in stained glass making for William Morris, had the chemistry to produce these new colors, including soda glass.

The Country Seat is at Huntercombe Manor Barn, near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. For information, www.thecountryseat.com or 44+ 1491 641349.