Arabia Finland Annual Kalevala Plates 1976-1999
Arabia Finland Annual Kalevala Plates by Raija Uosikkinen. This iconic series which was produced at Arabia Finland between 1976 to 1999.
Recently I was lucky enough to pick up 6 of these plates, some still in original box and packaging – they are now listed in my Etsy store HERE
Each of the plates is decorated in the same colours each year, with an enchanting illustration designed by Raija, each year based on a different excerpt of the Kalevala. On the back of each plate is the excerpt of text and where in the story being illustrated it is from.
e.g. 1993 – “Marjatta The Hapless Maiden” – “Sought her infant in the marshes, in the swamps her son discovered, and she brought him home in triumph, then the son of our Marjatta, grew into a youth most beauteous”
The 1993 annual wall plate is the most sought after of the 24 in the series ….Possibly because the plates in 1992, 1993, 1994 were made to order due to the global recession.
Wikipedia has a fascinating and detailed story about this epic work well worth reading, here are 2 excerpts from their entry.
” The Kalevala is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology. It is regarded as the national epic of Karelia and Finland and is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature. The Kalevala was instrumental in the development of the Finnish national identity, the intensification of Finland’s language strife and the growing sense of nationality that ultimately led to Finland’s independence from Russia in 1917. The first version of The Kalevala (called The Old Kalevala) was published in 1835. The version most commonly known today was first published in 1849 and consists of 22,795 verses, divided into fifty folk stories.”
“The Kalevala begins with the traditional Finnish creation myth, leading into stories of the creation of the earth, plants, creatures, and the sky. Creation, healing, combat and internal story telling are often accomplished by the character(s) involved singing of their exploits or desires. Many parts of the stories involve a character hunting or requesting lyrics (spells) to acquire some skill, such as boatbuilding or the mastery of iron making. As well as magical spell casting and singing, there are many stories of lust, romance, kidnapping and seduction. The protagonists of the stories often have to accomplish feats that are unreasonable or impossible which they often fail to achieve, leading to tragedy and humiliation”
C20Ceramics 