Saying her name may sound like choking on dry Weetabix but her designs are a far more sinuous affair. Anna Greta Eker was an important designer of the 1960s Norwegian craftdesigner movement and a key figure in the non profit PLUS organisation, creating striking modernist pieces in silver that are as covetable and stylish today as they were when they were made. Excitingly, you can still source her work on Ebay and on vintage sites: expect to pay between £100 and £200 for the pieces shown below.

Eker was born in Mariehamn, Finland in 1926. She moved to Norway in the 1950s where she married Erling Christofferson who was the leader of the silver workshop at PLUS in Fredrikstad. PLUS operated from 1958 to 1978 and was an artist colony of designers and craftsmen who aimed to collaborate with industry. They produced silver, baskets, furniture and pottery and their work was renowned for its quality and superb design.

Eker, an industrial designer by training, became one of the leading silversmiths at PLUS and, along with other designers such as Tone Vigeland, is credited with bringing new energy into the production of modern jewellery in Scandinavia.

Most of Eker’s jewellery was hand hammered. It featured the geometric and organic forms typical of the 60s and sometimes incorporated semi precious stones such as the agate below, handblown glass and wooden pearls.

When jewellery production at PLUS came to an end in the late 70s. Eker started up her own workshop using her artist name ‘AGE’ as her hallmark.

Scandi design of furntiure and textiles, particularly from the mid century, has been enjoying an extended period of popularity – to the point perhaps of saturation. It is very exciting to discover this rich new seam of Norwegian design which gives us the sleek, bold lines and modernism we so admire in an accessible – and reasonably affordable – form.