Little Etly Klarborg Elf - 25th Anniversary Model

Little Etly is calm, patient and very creative, with a lively and adventurous imagination. When a great idea pops into her head, she will often sit sculpting figurines long into the night.

Height: 15cm.

Brother Peter is Etly's partner.

In 2011, it will be 25 years since Etly Klarborg designed her very first elves. Etly Klarborg says: My mother has told me that from around the age of 4 years old I drew, painted and played with clay. My favorite characters have always been elves and trolls; no doubt because they were always the ones my mother told fairy tales about. I sat up at the kitchen table and modeled my first little elf figurines, and when I was with my mother in the marsh where she would work, I would sit between the peat, heather and cottongrass and shaped small elves and trolls in the damp peat soil. I played with the figurines and the time would fly by. My imagination had free rein, so in that sense, these little elf and troll characters have always been with me, and will stay with me the rest of my life. So the Little Etly elf represents me as a child, busily pre-occupied with the favorite characters of my imaginary world - and yes, I can see from the old pictures the same ears sticking out from under my hair. 25 years ago last November, when I was expecting my first son, I sold my very first elf from my own shop in Moseby, North region Denmark.

About the designer Etly Klarborg
Artist Etly Klarborg loved elfs and their significance in Danish folklore long before she started her company in 1986. She grew up with a vibrant imagination and created her first elf at just 4 years old, crafting it from mud while playing outside. The creatures helped connect her with her own mother, a storyteller whose personality shone bright.

It is the childlike quality of the elfs that have endured for all these years. When her oldest son, Martin, was young, he would play in his pajamas, his small belly popping out. So, too, then, did Martin the elf’s midsection. 

Learn more.