RICE PORCELAIN "OKSA" COFFEE CUP & SAUCER FK/65 BOX SET

Rice Porcelain was completed over a period of ten years, inspired by the Chinese "firefly-hand" porcelain that Friedl Kjellberg saw at the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna in the early 1930s.
The openwork pattern is individually cut by hand with a special knife, then bisque fired at 800°C, glazed, and fired again at 1380°C, causing the cut-out areas to vitrify and the openwork pattern to emerge as light passes through.
Initially, even small pieces took four days to produce as unique items, but after further research, a product series began to be manufactured from 1950.
It was exhibited at the Milan Triennale in 1951.

In Finnish, 'OKSA' means 'twig'.
The cut marks are 'ARABIA -F.H.Kj- FINLAND' (cup) and 'ARABIA -F.H.Kj-' (saucer).
This is a set of 6.
*Probably dead stock. In very good condition.

FRIEDL KJELLBERG｜1905–1993｜AUSTRIA

Friedl Kjellberg was an Austrian female ceramicist. She studied ceramics at the School of Arts and Crafts in Graz, Austria, and began her career as a ceramicist 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 its director from 1948 to 1950, succeeding Kurt Ekholm.

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

Her masterpiece, the Rice Porcelain series, unveiled in 1942, became a long-selling model, mass-produced from 1950 until 1974, and is internationally acclaimed as Arabia's representative artistic porcelain.

ARABIA｜1873 –｜FINLAND

Arabia was founded in 1873 as a subsidiary of the Swedish ceramics manufacturer Rörstrand in the Arabia district on the outskirts of Helsinki, and began operations the following year in 1874. In 1916, it separated from Rörstrand's capital and became an independent 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, organizing artistic activities at Arabia into an art department. He created a production environment for artists, establishing a system that allowed for the parallel development of products and art pieces.

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

The art department included artists such as Toini Muona, Friedl Kjellberg, Michael Schilkin, Birger Kaipiainen, Rut Bryk, and Kyllikki Salmenhaara. Their works gained international recognition from the 1930s, playing a crucial role in Arabia's cultural aspect and the development of Finnish ceramics.

In the 1940s, Friedl Kjellberg developed Rice Porcelain using the "firefly-hand" technique. Mass production began in 1950 and continued until 1974, becoming a long-selling product and receiving international acclaim as Arabia's representative artistic porcelain.

Against the backdrop of functionalism spreading in Northern Europe in the 1930s, Ekholm introduced the AR series (SINIVALKO) tableware in 1935, indicating the direction of later Nordic modern design.

In 1945, Kaj Franck joined 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 boasts numerous awards since the 1930s, particularly at the Milan Triennale in the 1950s (1951, 1954, 1957), where many products by designers, in addition to works by artists from the art department, received awards, establishing its global reputation.