FRANCESCA MASCITTI-LINDH｜1931–｜FINLAND
Francesca Mascitti-Lindh is a ceramic artist active in Finland. Born to an Italian father and a Finnish mother, she studied for two years at an art school in Rome from 1946 before moving to Finland.
Soon after arriving in Finland, she began working as a trainee at Arabia, where she gained experience under figures including Olga Osol, Michael Schilkin, and Kaj Franck. From 1949, she also studied ceramics under Elsa Elenius at the School of Arts and Design in Helsinki. There she met Richard Lindh, who would later become her husband, and after graduating the two established a small studio in Helsinki in 1953, producing mainly functional ceramics.
Works they exhibited came to the attention of the president of Wärtsilä, Arabia’s parent company, and in 1955 she joined Arabia’s Art Department. She remained there for thirty-four years, until 1989. After leaving Arabia, she continued to work in her own studio, and even introduced a new kiln in 2021, at the age of ninety, in order to continue making ceramics.
With roots in both Italy and Finland, two countries with strong design traditions, Mascitti-Lindh created a wide range of highly original works that move freely across styles and periods, making use of diverse techniques and materials. Almost all of her work consists of art pieces, though among her few industrial designs is the white porcelain tableware series Italia 90, created for Richard Ginori in 1989.
Her 1956 Double Teapot, made with Richard Lindh, is held in the collection of MoMA in New York and is among the works for which she received international recognition. Her many awards include first prize in a competition at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York in 1956, multiple prizes at Premio Faenza in Italy, and the Finnish State Prize for Crafts and Design in 1981.
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