This teacup was created by the art department of ARABIA, a leading Finnish ceramic manufacturer. Designer Hilkka-Liisa Ahola had her own in-house studio separate from the mass-produced production line at ARABIA, where she collaborated with painters to create handmade pieces.
Hilkka-Liisa Ahola often likes to paint pictures of sunflowers, but she uses a variety of colors in her works. This sunflower is painted with a unique color sense, with the petals in blue.
It has a straight cylindrical shape with the mouth running along the outside. It is shaped like a demitasse cup, but has a relatively large capacity, holding about 250ml.
The shape was designed by Ulla Procoppe, who is famous for Ruska and Valencia. This work is modeled on the shape of the "S model" of the smash hit Ruska, designed in 1960. The S model is a general term for the basic form of a series of tableware such as cups, plates, and pots adopted by Ruska.
Since the introduction of the S-Model, many Arabia products have been produced using the same shape as the Ruska S-Model, but with different surface decorations. Even after Ulla Prokoppe's death, the S-Model was used for several decades, and is also used in the Cosmos, Fractus, Flora and other series of dishes. Since the same shape was still used, it was named the S-Model, an acronym of Sama (which means "same" in Finnish).
■ Detailed specifications
Manufacturer: ARABIA Form design: Ulla Procope Pattern design: Hilkka-Liisa Ahola Country of origin: Finland Era: 1960s Condition: ★★★★★ (5: Complete)
This is a deadstock item in excellent condition. The color and luster are excellent, making it one of the best condition cups and saucers available on the market.
■Size
Diameter 10cm Height 5.5cm Saucer diameter 16cm
Hilkka-Liisa Ahola
Born in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. After working as a trainee at ARABIA in 1943, he moved to several design positions. He officially joined ARABIA in 1947, and over the next 27 years until 1974, he produced many atelier works featuring floral patterns and female figures known as HLA designs. Each of her works is hand-painted, so no two pieces are the same, and her work is characterized by a unique sense of color, with many of her works being dark brown in color, using blues, browns, and yellows in reduced brightness. She became famous for her Kukka (flower) series released in 1958, and the vases with hand-painted flowers were a big hit and continued to be produced until the 1970s. In 1974, ARABIA downsized its art department due to a financial crisis, and she also left ARABIA accordingly. Since then, he has turned his attention to making batik dyeing as a freelancer.