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Folky
Bowl
designed
by
Carl-Harry
Stålhane
(1920-1990)
Rorstrand
7-3/4" diameter x 2" high
Wonderful
hand-painted design of a reindeer and a Sámi
herder with lasso. See marks and background on the
Sámi people, and on Stålhane, below.
Circa
1940's.
Mint.
$
110. P-77-R
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Background:
The Sámi people are one of the aboriginal
peoples of the Fennoscandian area -- the northern parts of
Norway, Sweden, Finland and The Russian Federation. They are
often referred to as Lapps but they prefer to be called
Sámi
The
fjeld Sámi are also known as "reindeer
Sámi" because the reindeer is by far the most
important part of their economy.
They
live on the fjelds (round-topped mountains) between Sweden
and Norway and on the highlands north of it tending their
herds. This kind of nomad culture is unique in Europe and as
such it has been the subject of much interest. It has been
seen as the most typical form of Sámi culture
although it is only a few hundred years old. It is not
nearly as common as the half-nomad forest Sámi
culture. The importance of reindeer in the Sámi
culture can be seen in the fact that in Sámi
languages there are about 400 names for reindeer according
to gender, age, color, shape etc.
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Ink
stamped Rorstrand mark,
with cypher for Carl-Harry
Stålhane.
Background:
Born in 1920, Stålhane joined Rorstrand at the
age of 19, remaining there until he retired in 1973. Early
on, he worked as co-painter to Swedish artist Ivan
Grünewald.
He was trained as a painter and sculptor, and brought a
painter's sensibilities to his ceramics, clearly evident in
this "folky" design, from his early days at Rorstrand,
reflecting an important aspect of the Sámi
culture.
Thanks for much of this information on Stålhane, as
well as the revised dating shown above, go to Swedish art
historian, Katarina Årre
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