Rosti Margrethe Bowl

Since 1950 · 76 years to 2026 · First made in Denmark

Rosti Margrethe Bowl, view 2 — A melamine mixing bowl drawn from a survey of Danish housewives and named, with royal permission, after a 13-year-old princess.

The Margrethe bowl is a mixing bowl moulded in melamine, deep and rounded, with a broad pouring lip on one side and a thickened grip opposite it. The wall curves out from a narrow foot and turns in slightly at the rim, so that the bowl can be held at an angle and its contents whisked without spilling. A rubber ring set into the base stops it sliding on the worktop. The 3 litre size shown here was one of the original three.

Rosti Margrethe Bowl, 1954: "Margretheskålene": the bowls in 2, 2.5 and 3 litres, offered in white, blue, yellow and green, with Rosti's Christmas greetings to Denmark's ironmongers. — "Margretheskålene": the bowls in 2, 2.5 and 3 litres, offered in white, blue, yellow and green, with Rosti's Christmas greetings to Denmark's ironmongers. *Trade advertisement, 1954.* via rosti.design

Its brief came from a survey. In 1947, by Rosti's account, the young Danish firm bought every kind of mixing bowl it could find and asked housewives what was wrong with them; they wanted a bowl spacious enough to stir in, high enough not to splash, with a lip to pour from and something to hold. Rosti took the brief to Acton Bjørn and Sigvard Bernadotte, whose Copenhagen office was one of the first industrial design studios in Scandinavia. The firm dates the bowl's introduction to 1950; other accounts give dates up to 1955.

Rosti Margrethe Bowl, 1968: A Margrethe bowl held up beside a shelf of Rosti bowls and boxed Mepal goods, from the Roskilde Tidende of 7 November 1968. — A Margrethe bowl held up beside a shelf of Rosti bowls and boxed Mepal goods, from the Roskilde Tidende of 7 November 1968. *Newspaper photograph, 1968.* via rosti.design

The name came later. In 1953 a change in the Danish law of succession made Princess Margrethe heir to the throne, and Bernadotte, her uncle, asked the court whether the bowl might carry her name. Permission was given, and at Christmas 1954 the Margretheskål went on sale in three sizes and four colours. A rubber ring in the base and a range of lids followed in the 1960s.

The bowl has outlasted several owners: the shipping group A.P. Møller-Mærsk from 1971, the Dutch housewares firm Mepal from 2010, and the Danish F&H Group since 2019. It has appeared on a Danish stamp and been shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, according to its maker, which reckons that more than 25 million have been sold. The melamine bowl is still made, now in colours its designers never offered, beside versions in other materials.

Timeline

1950 First made · Disputed Rosti Margrethe Bowl enters production in Denmark.
1954 Designed With the Danish court's permission the bowl is named after Princess Margrethe and launched for Christmas in 2, 2.5 and 3 litre sizes.
1971 Recognised Rosti is bought by A.P. Møller-Mærsk, and the bowl wins the Danish ironmongers' design prize.
2019 Ownership After nine years with the Dutch firm Mepal, Rosti's housewares division passes to the Danish F&H Group.

Milestones as we found them, not as we've checked them.

The date

The sources disagree. The competing years are set out below.

Rosti's own timeline says the bowl was introduced in 1950, and its history page says it went into production that year and was named after Princess Margrethe in 1954, when it was launched for Christmas in 2, 2.5 and 3 litre sizes. A 2016 post on Danish Design Review, illustrating the example in Designmuseum Danmark, also titles it 'Margrethe Plastic Bowl 1950'. Other sources disagree: English Wikipedia's article on Acton Bjørn dates the bowl to 1955 in its text and 1950 in a picture caption, the article on Sigvard Bernadotte captions it 1954, and Danish Wikipedia says it was designed in 1947 and that the original 3 litre model dates from 1954. English Wikipedia also credits Jacob Jensen, who joined the Bernadotte & Bjørn studio only in 1952, with designing it. Because the sources conflict, the year is marked disputed; 1950 is the maker's date.

Also claimed

1947

Rosti's history says it began researching mixing bowls in 1947, buying samples and surveying housewives; Danish Wikipedia gives 1947 as the year of design. That is the start of the brief, not of production.

1954

The year the bowl was named Margrethe with the Danish court's permission and launched for Christmas in three sizes; a dated 1954 advertisement on Rosti's history page shows the three bowls. Danish Wikipedia calls the 3 litre bowl of 1954 the original model, and the English article on Sigvard Bernadotte captions the bowl 1954.

1955

English Wikipedia's article on Acton Bjørn gives 1955 in its text, while a caption on the same page says 1950. It also places the design after Jacob Jensen joined the studio in 1952, which conflicts with a 1950 start.

Why it still counts

One product. A mixing bowl is a type, but the Margrethe bowl is one named design by one maker, with its own curved profile, pouring lip and handle grip, sold under the Rosti name since the 1950s. This entry files the 3 litre bowl, one of the three original sizes.

The same object. Danish Wikipedia says the bowl has stayed unchanged apart from the rubber ring added to the base (in 1968, it says; Rosti says during the 1960s), and the 3 litre melamine bowl sold today has the same shape; a version in Durostima plastic and steel versions are sold beside it, which are changes of material.

The production run. No source records a period when the bowl was not made; the 1971, 2010 and 2019 changes of owner are not gaps, and the maker says more than 25 million have been sold.

First made

Copenhagen, Denmark Approximate

Where to buy · £

Nordic Nest

From the archive

Rosti Margrethe Bowl, 1967: "Julebag en rørende sag med Margrethe Serien": the bowl with the jug and spoons of the Margrethe series. — "Julebag en rørende sag med Margrethe Serien": the bowl with the jug and spoons of the Margrethe series. *Advertisement, 1967.* via rosti.design

Rosti Margrethe Bowl: Sections through four nested Margrethe bowls, showing the lip, the grip and the foot; the maker dates the picture to the 1960s. — Sections through four nested Margrethe bowls, showing the lip, the grip and the foot; the maker dates the picture to the 1960s. *Photograph, undated.* via rosti.design

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