Designer:  Kaj Franck (1911 – 1989), pattern designer Raija Uosikkinen (1923 - 2004)

Item:  Kerha Bowl

Manufactured by: Finel (Arabia)

Country of origin: Finland

Year made: 1950s

Materials: Steel with enamel finish

Dimensions: 5 ½” x 8 ¼” in diameter

Condition: Excellent, near mint

Description: Here is a very hard-to-find Kehra bowl by Raija Uosikkinen the purple and orange decoration on a white ground. The Kerha bowl is usually found with a red ground and black decoration. Raija Uosikkinen was one of the leading Finnish decorators of the 20th century, and spent her entire four decade career working at the Arbaia factory, but mostly worked on ceramics. We have seen and handled a few of this model, but almost always with obvious and noticeable condition issues. This example is as close to mint as you are likely to find. Therefore we have priced this accordingly.

Kaj Franck was one of Finland’s leading and influential figures of design and applied arts between 1940 and 1980.  He is probably best known for his ceramic designs for Arabia of Finland (now known as Ittala) that became the parent company of Finel who produced this bowl and as well as other steel and enameled kitchen wares.  Franck went to work for Arabia in 1945 and then became the artistic director of its ceramic factory three years later.  He also designed glass and steel objects. 

The design of this physical bowl shape is by Franck, but the outer decorations were outsourced to other major Finnish illustrators and ceramic pattern designers such as Esteri Tomula, Raija Uosikkinen, and Heikki Orvola.  Franck’s designs are in most major museum collections, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City held his first retrospective in 1992.  Many of his ceramic and glass designs are still in production and sold through Ittala.

Finel was a brand under which Wärtsilä and Järvenpää Emali created enamel kitchenware and tableware items from as early as the 1950s. In the early 1960s Wärtsilä rebranded their enamel ware division as Finel.  In the early 1980s the brand was sold to Hackman Finland, and some examples of these bowls bear that foil label.  It is estimated that over 500,000 of these steel bowls were produced over the decades. However, the vast majority were popular designs such as mushrooms, vegetables and other commonly found themes, and since these were used for everyday kitchen and serving purposes, almost all the examples available have condition issues, such as chipping and losses on the top edges, utensil scratching and other problems.  Finding the rarer examples in excellent condition is a real challenge.