The Bojesen family’s terrace in Bellavista was full of flowers, cane furniture... and birds, and at some point a picture of the wooden songbird was found in one of the family’s photo albums, which might well have been inspired by his flying friends on the terrace. It turned out later that there were originally five birds, and since then the family of songbirds has grown big and colourful.

All Kay Bojesen’s sweet songbirds spread joy and capture the hearts of both young and old  with their charming personality. The Nightingale was created in collaboration with the new H.C. Andersen House, which opened in the summer of 2021, and is inspired by the world-famous author’s fairy tale about the little bird with the big voice. And the colours of the Nightingale are inspired by the beautiful Chinese Nightingale.

The bird Georg fuses Kay Bojesen’s use of both wood and silver, as both the beak and the legs are decorated with silver leaf. And the gorgeous shades of green in the plumage are inspired by Kay Bojesen’s jewellery with jade stones. The Alfred Bird is named after one of Kay Bojesen’s great-grandchildren. This Nordic name also symbolises the innocence and peace that has always characterised the designer’s wooden figures. The songbird Ruth is named after Kay Bojesen’s Swedish daughter-in-law. She took the family by storm with her femininity and love of pink.

The Sunshine bird represents one of the five original colour combinations. Originally designed in the 1950s, and like its five colourful siblings, it has never been produced before. The Raven songbird is crafted with black feather splendour and is a stylish and classic feature of the otherwise colourful bird collection from Kay Bojesen.

The series also includes the Kay songbird, named after Mr Bojesen himself who was a big fan of the colour blue. He was always wearing either an impeccable blue suit, shirt and tie or white work coat. And the Ernst songbird takes us one place up in the family tree to Kay Bojesen’s father – a gentleman with many talents. He was a businessman, publishing director, cultural personality and also a creative soul who, together with his wife Valborg, inspired his son Kay to create his collection of beloved wooden figures.

The birds series also features Kay Bojesen’s iconic turtle doves in several versions and his sparrows, which he designed in the mid-1930s. These birds bring a touch of romance into the imaginative world of Wooden Figures. Kay Bojesen’s songbirds are a good example of how he, with a simple design, managed to gives his figures life and soul, so that to this day they spark our imagination and speak to the child in all of us, across age and generations.