THE EARLESS CUP
Arabia, the still active Finnish porcelain factory in Finland, renews itself now and then. One of their main designers in the early 60’s, Göran Bäck, was assigned the task of making a new saucer-cup combination and in 1963 the cup was put into production. Bäck did not want the cup to have the traditional handle and made only a ring that would prevent the user from burning their hands. This was not only estetic but also highly functional as five to six cups could be stacked on top of each other without them toppling over. It is hard to imagine that the cup was designed as early as it was.
The model bore the model number DA and was produced up until 1972. You seldom see it now and you practically never see the saucers. According to certain sources this is due to the fact that the saucer was too flat and it slipped through the drying cabinet’s plateholders breaking on the kitchen sink.
You see the cups in white and the pattern as the one in the first picture: “Kanerva”. Others were painted with a golden ring or hand painted with different patterns.
An altogether brilliant cup that feels as modern today as it was in 1963. Göran Bäck worked at Arabia from 1948 until 1986.
Forthzine - Jonas Forth 