Shipping from Copenhagen to Pennsylvania
In 2004, we were responsible for collecting, packing and shipping a fine white porcelain vase by the Danish ceramicist Jane Reumert, to a customer in Pennsylvania, USA.
The vase was extremely fragile, and the surface full of hundreds of small thin porcelain strands. It was impossible to hold the vase without them breaking off.
The porcelain was also so thin that you could shine through it with a lamp. The only way to lift the vase was by holding it inside.
”A great story with a very happy ending. JH Transport is the best.
David Werner
Across the Atlantic in a box full of sand
It was obviously a bit of a challenge as we had to send it 6000 km. across the Earth. And preferably in one piece.
We had to custom make a wooden box for the vase, but how were we going to attach the vase? Usually you pack this kind of stuff in bubble wrap and s-filling (flamingo chips). But the thin porcelain strings would not be able to withstand that.
Instead, we lined the inside of the box with plastic, and then poured very fine sand into the bottom of the box. The vase was carefully placed in the sand, and the rest of the box was then filled up, while at the same time we made sure to fill the vase itself with sand.
In this way, the pressure on the fragile porcelain was distributed over the entire vase, and at the same time kept the vase fixed in the box.
Of course, the sand made the box a lot heavier than usual and thus more expensive to send. But it also meant that the vase arrived in one piece.
The client’s story
I am a collector of Scandinavian art and have had the help of JH Transport in Copenhagen for over 20 years. They have provided excellent personalized service.
In 2004 I purchased a beautiful “White Bird’s Nest Bowl” from Jane Reumert when I was visiting her shop. It is very thin porcelain with fine wisps of white porcelain that flow from the surface. It is so fragile that it is translucent.
After I purchased it I couldn’t figure out a way to have it transported home to Pennsylvania. I had many ideas but none of them seemed satisfactory to JH Transport. After many discussions with Johnny Hansen, he reassured me that he could get it to me in one piece.
It arrived in a small wooden box. When I opened the box it was covered in sand on the inside and outside. It was the same principle of squeezing an egg in a fist. With equal forces the egg doesn’t break. My wife and I used plastic scoops for measuring coffee. She would take one scoop on the outside of the bowl and I would take a scoop from the inside. This way the forces were equally distributed. It was like an archaeological dig. In the end only three tiny wisps had broken off in its transatlantic voyage. I blew off the extra bits of sand, placed it in our display hutch and it hasn’t moved since.
A great story with a very happy ending. JH Transport is the best.
By the way I am on two museum boards and I do understand the difficulties of art transport on many levels.
Thank you JH Transport!
– David Werner
About the artist Jane Reumert
Professional ceramic artist
“Bird’s Nest” is designed and produced by the Danish artist and ceramicist Jane Reumert.
Jane Reumert has worked with ceramics since the 1960s, and much of her work is inspired by nature, and especially birds.
Throughout the 1980s, she began working with porcelain, and started experimenting with mixing fiberglass in the material in the early 1990s. This meant that she could make even thinner (but still strong) works.
In 1994, Jane Reumert was the first to receive the Torsten and Wanja Soderberg Nordic Design Award.
The award is administered by the Röhsska Museuet in Gothenburg and supports design and decorative arts in the Nordics.
