Still Life: Vintage Kaj Franck Design
I’m finding that the more time I spend on Ebay finding incredible vintage stuff, the more questions I have. Who made it? What’s the company history? Is this really collectible? How much is this thing really worth? Two companies that I am starting to get to know are Arabia Finland and Berggren Originals. I don’t know that their stuff is really all that valuable – more that their stuff is freaking beautiful and I want to surround myself with these pieces.
This bowl is from the 1960’s, produced by Arabia Finel and designed by Kaj Franck, a famous mid-century modern Finnish designer. This particular enamelware mushroom bowl is fairly easily found on Ebay or Etsy – but finding some of his more obscure works is proving a lot more difficult – and costly. I’ve seen a very simple enamel teapot designed by him priced at over $300 – one that I’m not even that impressed with. But this bowl? I’m in luv. And it was less than $25.
I’ll feature more of Kaj Franck’s designs as I am able to acquire them – and I’m totally on the hunt.
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Inspired by Bjorn Wiinblad @ Vintage Fangirl
[…] His work looks just as stunning today as it did 60 years ago. You might see some similarity with Kaj Franck’s work, the two were both prominent designers during the same […]
Hanns
Hi Wendy,
I’m just researching Finel enamel cooking pot’s (I just picked up for next to nothing). Dark blue with dots on the side. Do you know of any sites that show the history of Finel and examples of their designs?
Wendy Piersall
I’ve tried to dig up a lot of information on Arabia Finland in the past. Unfortunately, the most helpful link I bookmarked is now a dead link.
But you can try the Arabia online “museum”, which has a good amount of history in regards to factory marks, their prominent designers, and many of the items they sell – mostly focused on dinnerware:
http://www.arabianmuseo.fi/web/museumarabia.nsf/pagesbylevel/ENG0?opendocument