This is the largest bowl from Kartano, a leading Finnish tableware manufacturer, Arabia.
The series name Kartano means manor or mansion in Finnish, referring to the luxurious houses where medieval aristocrats lived. Contrary to the ornate name, the decoration is simple, but I think it expresses the scenery of an aristocratic manor. The regularly-spaced dots and grape-like patterns evoke a well-maintained garden.
The design was done by the duo Peter Winqvist and Esteri Tomura, who also came up with the famous Crocus. Esteri Tomura's style, who was in charge of the decoration, almost always incorporates flowers into her designs.
The Cartano series was produced for a short period of time until two years before the Crocus series was released. Crocus is still commonly seen in the vintage market, but Cartano is rare and almost impossible to find, probably because the original production volume was small.
■Details Manufacturer: ARABIA Series: Kartano Form design: Peter Winquist Pattern design: Esteri Tomula Year: 1973-1976 Country of origin: Finland Condition: ★★★☆☆ (3.5: Good condition)
When held up to the light, cutlery marks can be seen on the inside bottom. There is slight fading on the base due to age. There are no cracks, chips or crazing, and the condition retains the original luster. It is in very good condition for a vintage item, but considering the cutlery marks I'm rating it 3.5.
■Size
Diameter 22cm Height 6.5cm
Esteri Tomula
Esteri Tomura (1920-1998)
Born in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Her father, who was a university professor, bought a villa in the countryside called Urjalan in northwest Helsinki, and her childhood was spent every summer at the villa with her family, which was rich in nature, which deepened her knowledge of nature. be done. Esteri Tomura had a congenital condition called dwarfism, and initially majored in ceramics at Aalto University of the Arts in Helsinki, but due to physical reasons, she was unable to work with clay satisfactorily. Therefore, he gave up on the career of ceramics and sought his own expertise in design.
After joining ARABIA , he honed his skills as a pattern designer with Laiya Uosikkinen, who became his lifelong friend. While Uosikkinen preferred abstract and geometric patterns, Tomura seeks the origin of his designs in the flowers and flowers of Finland, which was the original landscape of his childhood. Tomura, who created masterpieces despite his physical handicaps, has similarities with Birger Kaipiainen, who designed the timeless masterpiece Paratissi despite suffering from polio.