At school I unwittingly earned myself the nickname (I tell myself it was affectionate) of 'Moomin' due to an unfortunate hair cut. Since then I have developed a firm affection for the hippo like troll family, created by Swedish-Fin illustrator Tove Jansson, I have also been more careful with my choice of hairdresser. Time has passed and old wounds have healed, friends now buy me Moomin merchandise as gifts and we have a chuckle - though I honestly still can't see the resemblance, bad haircut or not.
My favourite of these gifts was a Moomin plate and bowl which I adore. I always wondered where they came from, then recently I stumbled accross the Finnish Design Shop, an amazing online shop featuring a whole host of unique and stylish pieces for the home, including Marimekko and Arabia, who I now know to be the creators of my precious Moomin ceramics. I prefer the fat, white Moomin characters and if I'm honest I find the other characters terrifying.
Arabia have been creating ceramics and tabelware for over 130 years and are apparently very popular in Finland. I can see why, I have fallen in love with their 'Runo' range of tableware by designer Heini Riitahuhta who was inspired by the different seasons, the designs are entitled: Summer Ray, Autumn Glow, Winter Star and Spring Drop. Lovely.
They are reminiscent of 70's enamel saucepans but remain on the right side of kitsch with a charming, naive quality and a graphic edge. I want them!
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