Today we have a rare ceramic plate from ARABIA in stock. It was made in Finland in the 1960s.
Ceramic panels are paintings made of ceramic. Ceramic panels are not very familiar in Japan, but in Scandinavia, there is a culture of using ceramic panels for interior decoration. The overwhelming majority of works were made by a Swedish potter called Jie Gantofa, and many of these are also available in Japan. (For more details, please see our previous post , "The History of Jie Gantofa Ceramic Panels." )
(Photo: A ceramic plaque made by Arabia in the 1960s , depicting a peacock in eccentric brushstrokes.)
Apart from their mass production factory, ARABIA also has a workshop called the Art Department where ceramic artists handcraft each piece. This is a ceramic tile made in that workshop.
(Photo: Designer Annnikki Hovisaari)
The designer HOVISAARI ARABIA's signature is written on the bottom left. Annnikki Hovisaari (1918-2004) is known for his vertical ceramic tile works called Ornamenti, which incorporate totem patterns and leaf designs.
(Photo: Hovisaari's masterpiece "Ornamenti")
A distinctive feature of Hovisaari ceramic tiles is that they come in multiple sizes with the same design. A small tile-like version of the peacock tile was also produced. This tile is the largest in the Peacock series, measuring over 30cm in size and imposing.
The ceramic panel expresses the brilliance and splendor of the peacock with glaze scattered like diamonds. The beautiful peacock is depicted with free proportions that emphasize its body.
In addition to being made by hand one by one, a distinctive feature of Art Department works from that time is that the color of the glaze varies from piece to piece. This ceramic tile was also produced in multiples, and although the design is basically the same, the coloring varies slightly from piece to piece. Sometimes the color is dark, sometimes light and bright.
This shows that the technicians working in the studio were given the freedom to apply the colors as they wished. While following the basic Hovisaari design, they were free to mix the glazes as they wished, as long as they did not deviate from the basic form. For the same reason, the hand-painted masterpieces of Valencia were done with free-flowing brushstrokes. No two pieces are the same, and each one reflects the painter's individuality.
(Photo: Each piece is hand-painted in Valencia . The details of the pattern and the color intensity vary from piece to piece.)
However, from another perspective, it could also be said that it was not possible to make the same thing because there were no strict standards. For better or worse, Scandinavian countries are haphazard and do not have the value of making exactly the same thing.
Even Lisa Larson's limited edition ceramic plates, made in 100 pieces, have inconsistent signatures, and if you look closely, you'll notice that the sizes are different. Even plates of the same size from the same series often have a difference of a few millimeters when stacked, and they don't line up neatly.
In Scandinavia , there is a value called "Lagom," which means that if something is just right and fits your means, that is good enough. This feeling is also reflected in quality control. Rather than the imposing presence of a "one-of-a-kind" piece, I feel that the Scandinavian flavor of just the right amount of appropriateness is expressed as "unevenness" and "fluctuation" in the pieces.