RICE PORCELAIN "OKSA" BOWL FK/1

Rice Porcelain was completed over a period of 10 years, inspired by Chinese 'rice grain' porcelain that I saw at the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna in the early 1930s.
The openwork pattern is cut out one by one by craftsmen using a special knife, then bisque-fired at 800°C, glazed, and fired again at 1380°C, causing the cut-out parts to vitrify and the openwork pattern to emerge through the light.
Initially, even small pieces were unique items that took four days to produce, but after further research, they began to be manufactured as a product series from 1950.
Exhibited at the Milan Triennale in 1951.

In Finnish, "OKSA" means "twig."
Cut signature: "ARABIA -F.H.Kj- MADE IN FINLAND"
*In very good condition with no noticeable damage.

FRIEDL KJELLBERG｜FRIEDL KJELLBERG｜1905–1993｜AUSTRIA

Friedl Kjellberg was an Austrian female ceramist. She studied ceramics at the School of Arts and Crafts in Graz, Austria, and began her career as a ceramist at Arabia in 1924 after graduation.

She was also a founding member of Arabia's art department, which was established by Kurt Ekholm in 1933, and served as director from 1948 to 1950, succeeding Kurt Ekholm.

During her 46 years at Arabia, she primarily created art pieces as an artist in the art department.

The Rice Porcelain series, her most representative work announced in 1942, became a long-selling model, with mass production starting in 1950 and continuing until 1974, and is highly acclaimed internationally as a representative art porcelain of Arabia.

ARABIA｜ARABIA｜1873 –｜FINLAND

Arabia was established in 1873 as a subsidiary of the Swedish ceramics manufacturer Rörstrand in the Arabia district on the outskirts of Helsinki, and began operations in 1874. In 1916, it became independent from Rörstrand's capital and became a Finnish company.

In 1929, the world's largest tunnel kiln at the time, measuring 112 meters in length, was introduced, establishing production efficiency and a mass production system. This led Arabia to develop into one of Europe's leading ceramics factories.

In 1932, Kurt Ekholm was appointed art director, and Arabia's artistic activities were organized into an art department. A creative environment for artists was established, and a system was built to develop products and art pieces in parallel.

A major characteristic of Arabia is that product development was carried out through the interaction of three departments: the art department, the applied art department, and the product design department.

The art department included Toini Muona, Friedl Kjellberg, Michael Schilkin, Birger Kaipiainen, Rut Bryk, and Kyllikki Salmenhaara. Their works gained international acclaim from the 1930s, playing a cultural role for Arabia and an important part in the development of Finnish ceramics.

In the 1940s, Friedl Kjellberg developed Rice Porcelain using the 'rice grain' technique. Mass production began in 1950 and it became a long-selling product that continued until 1974, receiving high international acclaim as a representative art porcelain of Arabia.

Against the backdrop of the functionalism trend that spread in the Nordic countries in the 1930s, Ekholm released the AR series (SINIVALKO) tableware in 1935, indicating the direction of later Nordic modern design.

In 1945, Kaj Franck joined the company as a designer, and together with Kaarina Aho and Ulla Procopé, he promoted the renewal of product design. The Kilta series, released in 1953, achieved great success as innovative modern design tableware characterized by simple geometric forms and versatility.

Arabia has won numerous awards since the 1930s, but especially at the Milan Triennale (1951, 1954, 1957) in the 1950s, many products by designers as well as works by artists in the art department received awards, establishing its global reputation.