Annikki Hovisaari Large Flared Vase

A bold, architecturally structured vase, handmade by Annikki Hovisaari for Arabia, Finland, circa 1965.

This object's unusual form reflects Hovisaari's unconventionality and broad exploration of form. She frequently pushed the boundaries of the "vase", rejecting traditional pottery shapes in favour of wide-ranging experiments in throwing and construction. This piece has an extraordinary UFO-like silhouette, thrown in separate sections and assembled together. The graphic "Space Age" form of this piece provides a compelling contrast to the intensely organic character of the textured chamotte clay and thickly applied glaze.

The object's surface is covered with an expressive iron-rich glaze in shades of ochre and chocolate brown. Freely brushed across the coarse clay body, leaving areas of the chamotte exposed, the different hues drip and pool across the unusual form.

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.

This vase has a closely related, smaller counterpart, also available from Art & Utility. Displayed together, the difference in scale gives the two closely related forms an especially satisfying rhythm.