Manufacturing
Novel production techniques were employed to take many of Quistgaard's designs to the mass market, particularly his metal and wood pieces, which were often unusual and playful in form. Instead of carving out of solid wood, which would have been prohibitively expensive, smaller wood blocks were connected with a staving technique, which were reenforced with a new type of epoxy glue.[16] This became a common design element of Dansk and resulted in woodware that was less prone to cracking from repeated moisture exposure and Quistgaard could chose to hide or expose the end grain faces depending on the appropriate use of the object.[16] The enameled pickled-steel plating of the Købenstyle line features flowing and sculpted profiles usually only seen at the time in much thicker and heavier cast iron cookware. Købenstyle utilizes pin point wielding where the distinctive curved handles meet the rounded body.[16] This greatly minimized the transfer of heat from the body of the pot or pan to the handles, allowing the possibility of handling the piece without pot holders from a stovetop.[16] The same handles, also seen on the lids of Købenstyle pot and casserole pieces, also serves as a trivet and table protector when serving. Dansk designs are recognized for their artistic merit with examples held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria & Albert Museum, The Louvre, the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Herning Museum of Contemporary Art in Denmark.[17][18][19][20]
Until 1965, Dansk products were manufactured in Denmark or Germany with later production moving to France until the late 1970s.[21] From the 1970s to the early 2000s, various products were manufactured in Portugal, Finland, Norway, Korea, Romania, and Japan. Most contemporary Dansk re-issues are made in Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, China, and India.[21]
Because of the many instances of Dansk changing ownership and relocating during its history, some of the company's design archive was lost and still remains incomplete. Recent efforts by Dansk, museums, and private collectors have focused on rebuilding knowledge of legacy products and data.[22] This is further complicated by the fact that Quistgaard did not document how many total objects were designed within a given product line, and didn't find keeping dates of designs as important.[22] Many of his pieces, particularly the peppermills, were never given names and Dansk assigned them non-consecutive product numbers.[22] The total number of objects Dansk designed and produced remains unknown.
