Annikki Hovisaari Large Bulbous Vase

An impressively large vase with bulbous form and tapered neck, handmade by Annikki Hovisaari for Arabia, Finland, circa 1965.

This unique piece has an exceptionally textured surface, its coarse chamotte clay dappled with pits and craters. A wash of iron-rich glaze has settled into these irregularities, picking them out in deep chocolate brown, while a lightly brushed amber-ochre glaze moves unevenly across the body. Between these areas of glaze, the pale taupe colour of the stoneware itself remains clearly visible.

Hovisaari's silhouettes range from seemingly archaic vessels to strikingly experimental, almost futuristic constructions. This piece belongs more closely to the former. Its swelling body and narrow neck draw upon one of the most fundamental vessel forms, yet the precision of its construction is set against the deliberately coarse, irregular surface of the clay. The swooping neck retains particularly vivid evidence of its making: Hovisaari's finger marks remain clearly visible, spiralling upwards towards the rim. Ancient in its basic form but unmistakably Modernist in its handling, the vase brings these seemingly opposing qualities together with remarkable assurance.

Hovisaari joined Arabia in 1949, following three years studying ceramics at Helsinki's Central School of Arts and Crafts. Initially working within Arabia's department of industrial art, she designed decorative objects for serial production alongside a smaller number of individually made pieces.

In 1963, Hovisaari moved into Arabia's celebrated Art Department, where she was able to concentrate increasingly on unique studio pieces. Given access to the considerable technical resources of the factory, she spent the following decade exploring increasingly unconventional combinations of form, clay and glaze.

Hovisaari became particularly celebrated for her command of glazes, but equally important was her highly individual approach to form. This vase brings the two together particularly well: futuristic in silhouette yet earthy and almost elemental in its material expression.