Mug thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 140, Factory Ceramics

Mug

ca. 1900 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Around 1900 Finland's awareness of its national identity found expression in a burgeoning of design and the arts in general. The Iris Workshops were part of this movement. The potter (and painter), Alfred William.Finch (1854-1930), an Englishman brought up and educated in Brussels, had an international training and experience which he brought to Finland at the invitation of Louis Sparre, the founder in 1897 of the Workshops in Porvoo. The Workshops also produced furniture, textiles and glass, all of it radical and influential, despite the Workshops' short existence. After its closure in 1902, Finch went on to head the ceramics department at the Central School of Industrial Arts in Helsinki.

Finch's deceptively simple utilitarian earthenwares were part of th Iris Workshops' pioneering attempt to establish a new, essentially Finnish culture, breaking free from former Swedish influence. His ceramics were plain with simple elegant decorations reflecting his association with contemporaries such as Henri van de Velde (1863-1957).


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Earthenware incised with decoration cut through coloured slip and applied dots of white slip
Brief description
Earthenware mug, with incised and slip decoration, made by Alfred William Finch at the Iris Workshop, Porvoo, ca. 1900.
Physical description
Earthenware mug, incised and with slip decoration in green, blue and white.
Dimensions
  • Height: 10cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'AWF IRIS FINLAND' and 'LMM' in monogram [incised] and other indistinct marks ('LMM' for La Maison Moderne (Paris))
  • 'LMM' [in monogram, impressed]
Gallery label
MUG CIRC. 759-1966 'American and European Art and Design 1800-1900' Finch's deceptively simple utilitarian earthenwares were part of the Iris Workshops' pioneering attempt to establish a new, essentially Finnish culture, breaking free from former Swedish influence. His ceramics were plain with simple, elegant decorations reflecting his training with Henri van de Velde (1863-1957). After the closure of the Workshops he became head of ceramics at the school of industrial design in Helsinki thus directly influencing the new generation of Finnish ceramists and designers.(1987-2006)
Object history
Acquired for the Museum by Barbara Morris, Assistant Keeper, Dept. of Circulation, on a visit to Finland, following the exhibition 'Finlandia' held at the V&A, 1961
Production
Designed for Iris Workshop, Porvoo.
Subject depicted
Summary
Around 1900 Finland's awareness of its national identity found expression in a burgeoning of design and the arts in general. The Iris Workshops were part of this movement. The potter (and painter), Alfred William.Finch (1854-1930), an Englishman brought up and educated in Brussels, had an international training and experience which he brought to Finland at the invitation of Louis Sparre, the founder in 1897 of the Workshops in Porvoo. The Workshops also produced furniture, textiles and glass, all of it radical and influential, despite the Workshops' short existence. After its closure in 1902, Finch went on to head the ceramics department at the Central School of Industrial Arts in Helsinki.

Finch's deceptively simple utilitarian earthenwares were part of th Iris Workshops' pioneering attempt to establish a new, essentially Finnish culture, breaking free from former Swedish influence. His ceramics were plain with simple elegant decorations reflecting his association with contemporaries such as Henri van de Velde (1863-1957).
Bibliographic references
  • Greenhalgh, Paul (Ed.), Art Nouveau: 1890-1914 . London: V&A Publications, 2000
  • Opie, Jennifer Hawkins. Scandinavia: ceramics & glass in the twentieth century. London: V&A Publications, 1989. cat. no. 121, p 61, ill. ISBN 1851770712.
Collection
Accession number
CIRC.759-1966

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Record createdJanuary 14, 2003
Record URL
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