Från slott till koja – Arkitektur i Arabias väggtallrikar under 1900-talet

From castles to cottages – Architecture in 20^th century collector plates by Arabia

Mass-produced collector plates were a popular phenomenon in the Finnish applied arts during the 1970s and 1980s. The porcelain manufacturer Arabia was the country’s largest producer of collectible plates and provided a wide range of motifs, often with national relevance, such as Finnish flora and fauna, presidents, artworks or architecture. The popularity of collector plates has declined in recent decades, and little interest has been paid to them in the context of art history. The aim of this paper is to examine the ways in which architectural motifs have been used in collector plates by Arabia as a symbol for national or regional values. Central questions relate to how the plates are used as a medium and possible reasons for the depiction of certain buildings or building types. The history of collector plates presents the background of the phenomenon, and the chosen motifs are analyzed in relation to the use of architecture as a symbol for identities.  The results indicate that the architectural motifs used for collector plates on the whole followed trends in Finnish architecture. The depiction of Finnish castles, more recent regional municipal buildings, local churches and vernacular architecture echoed widening views on what could be considered interesting architecture or built cultural heritage.

The article is written in Swedish