Collections Spotlight: The Legacy of Bing & Grøndahl and Royal Copenhagen Christmas Plates

The American Swedish Institute might change its annual holiday themes each year, but one attraction remains constant. A beloved favorite, the blue and white distinctive Danish holiday plates are displayed in illuminated cases, standing resolute and waiting for admiring visitors.

These plates first gained popularity thanks to Crown Princess Louise of Denmark, who purchased a plate designed by the Royal Danish Porcelain Factory to remember her visit to the 1888 Nordic Industrial, Agricultural, and Arts Exhibition held in Copenhagen. Perhaps the very first social media influencer, her purchase catalyzed the plates’ popularity.

There are essentially two famous lines of plates members may be familiar with—Bing & Grøndahl and Royal Copenhagen. Both lines were designed by artist Frans August Hallin, who created each line, as well as the process to allow the mass production of the plates, during his time at two competing companies. Despite the two companies’ merger in 1987, they have continued introducing two distinct annual plate designs each year.

ASI’s collection includes a complete set of Bing & Grøndahl plates and many of the Royal Copenhagen plates. Selections from both the Bing & Grøndahl and Royal Copenhagen plate collections will be on display each year, in a presentation that promises to surprise visitors in a new and unexpected way.

View ASI’s collection of Bing & Grøndahl plates.

View ASI’s collection of Royal Copenhagen plates.