Hans Bolling

Born in Aarhus in 1931, Hans Bølling studied textile printing at the School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen, completed a carpentry apprenticeship and graduated in architecture from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1959. Alongside his work as an architect he carved small wooden figures, almost all of them first made as gifts for his wife and children.

Made by hand by Architectmade, they include the Duck and Duckling, inspired by a family of ducks crossing a busy Copenhagen road, the dog Oscar and the Optimist and Pessimist.