This pillow vase wass designed by Grethe Helland and is part of the Baca Series, that was produced for Royal Copenhagen-Aluminia sometime between 1963 and 1970. 
 
Grete Helland (1939-1999) was a Norwegian Ceramist. She is especially famous for being part of Nils Thorsson’s design team at Royal Copenhagen, during the 1960’s, where they created complex and detailed patterns which later has become Scandinavia midcentury iconic fajance. She was also the one to introduce Japanese raku ware pottery tradition to Norway.
 
She is represented in the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, the West Norway Museum of Decorative Art and Sørlandets Art Museum. Beside from this, she was decorated Knight, First Class of the Order of St. Olav in 1998.
 
Aluminia was a Danish factory of earthenware pottery, established in Copenhagen in 1863. 
Philip Schou (1838-1922) was the founding owner of the Aluminia factory in Christianshavn. 
In 1882, the owners of Aluminia purchased the Royal Copenhagen porcelain factory. The factories were operated independently under their respective trade names until 1969, when the use of the Aluminia name was ended. Since then the products have been sold under the mark "Royal Copenhagen Denmark Fajance". Between 1928-1969 the Artistic Director of Alumina was Nils Johan Thorvald Thorsson. (1898 – 1975) He wasleading a team of talented designers which included Bethe Breyen, Kari Christensen, Johanne Gerber, Grete Helland-Hansen, Berte Jessen, Marianne Johnson, Inge Lise-Koefoed, Ellen Malmer, and Ivan Weiss, among others. (Many of whose work you can find here on our website.)
Thorsson’s work as a designer varied greatly thematically, from the naturalistic featuring birds, fish, and butterfly motifs, to the abstract and geometric. During his time at Royal Copenhagen, Thorsson was the factory's most prolific designer, his work is often presented as an exemplar of mid-century Danish modernism and is praised in the field of ceramic design.