Fanny Garde

Fanny Susanne Garde (1855–1928) was a Danish porcelain painter who worked for the Bing & Grøndahl porcelain factory from 1886. She began by decorating the company's Heron dinnerware set (Hejrestellet), which proved to be an award-winning success in underglaze painting. She went on to contribute many of her own designs, especially vases decorated with flowers or fruits, sometimes also working with crackle-glazed porcelain. She is remembered in particular for decorating Bing & Grøndahl's Seagull set (Mågestellet), featuring a white bird in a blue sky.

Biography Born on 20 February 1855 in Norre Løgum parish in Tønder Municipality in the south of Jutland, Fanny Susanne Garde was the daughter of the parish priest Peter Christian Garde (1816–1906) and Augusta Charlotte Margrethe Lawætz (1826–1906). In 1876 she arrived in Copenhagen where she attended the recently established Arts and Crafts School for Women headed by Charlotte Klein. After her studies, she remained at the school until 1884 as a teacher. While there she met Effie Hegermann-Lindencrone, who became her partner. They two women set up a home together in Copenhagen, and travelled together to Italy, France, England and Germany.