Annikki Hovisaari Conical Bottle Vase w. Handle

A conical art vase with loop handle by Annikki Hovisaari for Arabia, Finland, circa 1970.

This handled bottle-like vessel features a radiant iron rich glaze with hues of amber, brown & purple. To modern eyes, the finish isn’t obviously colourful, although, the 1970's audience it was made for would have deemed this art piece incredibly dynamic, chic & audacious. Design inspired by antiquity, nature, and muted earthy tones were extremely popular by the mid-1970s, linked to the international surge in environmentalism.

The bold form of the vase is made from coarse chamotte clay, a rough textured medium that Hovisaari specialised in, and this also demonstrates how her work was an important part of a movement in Nordic design towards the primordial. The gently tapering conical body with pronounced lip was hand-thrown on a wheel, whilst the handle with its perfectly circular hole was applied by hand.

Hovisaari entered the pottery at Arabia, Finland's oldest manufacturer of ceramics, at the age of 30 in 1949. This came after three years of studying ceramics at Helsinki’s Central School of Arts and Crafts (now Aalto University School of Arts and Design) from 1946 to 1949.

To begin with, Hovisaari worked in Arabia’s department of industrial art where she mainly designed decorative items for large scale production alongside a small amount of hand thrown items. However, in 1963 she was able to move to a studio in the art department where, on the 9th floor overlooking water and woods, her main attention could be focused on creating one-off art pieces.

Here, Hovisaari and ‘the [other] Arabia artists could work and create as they will. With the full resources of the factory at their disposal.’ [1] In this setting, over the next 11 years, Hovisaari rose to become one of Finland’s most daring & celebrated ceramists.

Hovisaari is considered a connoisseur of glazes and was a skilled maker as well as a talented designer with a unique approach to form.

[1] Ulf Hård af Segerstad, Scandinavian Design (London: Studio Books, 1961) p.38.