This is a ceramic plate called UNIK series produced in 1967 by Lisa Larson, a representative Swedish ceramic artist. Lisa Larson designed nine ceramic plates this year, including cats, birds, horses and elephants. This is a drawing of a sitting cat. Each porcelain plate was handcrafted at Gustavsberg's atelier called G Studio in the capital Stockholm.
The UNIK series has two types of ceramic plates, a sitting cat and a round cat, and this is the former. It depicts a cat sitting quietly and well-behaved from the front, and the mouth is tied in a straight line, making it a cute masterpiece. A normal sitting cat has a golden coat, but this is a blue-eyed, black-haired ceramic plate of a blue-eyed sitting cat that was rarely produced. If you look closely at the fur, it's a deep bluish black, and it's quite rare among the UNIK series, making it a collector's item.
Since the UNIK series was produced over a long period of time, there are considerable differences in style depending on the era. Basically, the later the work is, the brighter the color changes, and the thickness of the ceramic plate is about 1 cm. This one has a relatively dark color tone, is 22.5 cm square, and has a thin thickness of 8 mm.
Lisa Larson likes and uses cat motifs a lot, but while cats are often seen in a realistic and sharp-eyed style, lions, which are also of the feline family, are drawn with a cat-like mildness. is characterized by You can feel the deformation unique to Lisa Larson, where cute things are sharp and sharp things are gentle.
■ Detailed specifications
Manufacturer: Gustavsberg Designer: Lisa Larson Series name: UNIK / Unique Title: Katt / Cat Age: 1967-1970s (estimated)
Condition: ★★★★☆ (4.5: Excellent)
At the top of the back, you can see a faint trace of the history of the ceramic plate. In Northern Europe, it is common to write the date and place of purchase on the back of a ceramic plate, and it seems to be a trace of that. Overall, it is a very beautiful product with no cracks. The surface is in the best condition that retains the original molding.
■ size
Length and width: 22.5 cm Thickness: 0.8 cm
■ About the designer
Lisa Larson (1931- )
Elmhult in Kronoberg county in Småland, southern Sweden ( Born in Härlunda, a village of about 500 people in the Älmhult district. When I was young, I wanted to be a fashion designer, but after entering the Gothenburg College of Art, I learned ceramics. At one point, Stig Lindberg discovered him in a competition, and after a trial period of one year, he was formally appointed as a designer at Gustavsberg. Soon after, in 1955, he announced the Lilla zoo series, and in 1964 he devised the famous Afrika series of lion statues.
In addition to Gustavsberg, Lisa Larson has designed for Höganäs, national retail giant Åhléns and German pottery manufacturer Rosenthal. After leaving Gustavsberg in 1981, he continued his creative activities freely and was active in various fields as a freelance artist who entered into freelance contracts with companies rather than working exclusively with them. In 1979 and 1981, he held solo exhibitions at the Seibu Department Store in Tokyo. It is said that 70,000 people visited his solo exhibition in 1981.
