Nisse

This little sweet gnome , NISSE in Danish, has been by my side all of my December months as long as I can remember. It has stood on the morningtable since the 1st of December alongside my sisters nisse and my parents nisser. Eventhough they had the same colours and overall look, I knew exactly which one was mine - og and the joy of reunion every 1st of December was enormous - and so was the disappointment when December was over and my parents carefully put it back to sleep until next December. The NISSE was originally given to my father and his siblings from my grandfather to follow them during their December months. At that time they were made in clay - more easily to break - and you can still find them antique today in some places. When my father met my mother - he made a cast of his nisse and made one and painted it for my Mum, so that she had one of her own too. He did the same when my sister and I were born. And when my nieces were born.

I have often wanted to share this tradition with people I care for, but I have also known that this was not something that could be made on order and something he did for people outside the family. It takes a lot of manual labour and care for the little nisse to get perfectly dirty, red cheeks and mild in their look. I have finally convinced him after he doesn’t work non stop - to share this tradition with others, and paint a little drop each year.

The new NISSE are made in plaster to last longer (instead of clay), hand painted by my father - and the little iron holder for the candle is handmade by my friend and smith Rasmus Andersen. The iron is slightly bigger than the usual candleholders for a perfect proportion to the NISSE.

Each NISSE is unique - and I hope they will follow new families and create new traditions in their new homes.

The little NISSE comes in 2 versions - Hugo and Nils (named after my grandfather and father) - limited edition each year - and introduced first in December 2024.

I hope they will be part of many future Christmas days ahead for many of you.

Marie