“Torsten Kälvemark scroll in a grand bokmonument over keramikbolaget Upsala-Ekebys artistic epoch”
“In the beginning was the mud. It was on the property Ekeby, just outside Uppsala, and it proved to be suitable raw material for both brick and ceramic products. The year was 1886 when the company Upsala-Ekeby was founded in order to exploit this natural resource. It was during a time when the old wooden buildings were demolished to get light and air and the need for brick grew. It was also kakelugnarnas golden times, and the new company could deliver the first-class products even on that front.”
“eventually started the manufacturing of items that would adorn the style-conscious home. Pots, vases and barrels was a growing niche. Then, when the water-based heating systems began to be installed in newly built houses decreased demand on the tegelbaserade fireplaces with its glazed facades. Upsala-Ekeby became more and more a part of the school of art and landscape on the side of the glass factories that came to make Sweden the attention also to an international audience.”
“That Magnus Palm writes wanted to the company at the beginning of the 30’s ”rise from the pot and kakelnivån”. There is also this new artistic era in which his book is mainly about. It stretches from the advanced design starting around 1940 until dusk in the late 70’s.”
“In the center of attention are the artists that mainly contributed to the famous brand. In total, the reader may meet the 18 designers (eleven women and seven men), which was responsible for the more than 1 500 objects, which is illustrated in beautiful color images.”
“To scroll through the pages in this book is like going to an antiques market. You get continuous aha-experiences. Meet the vases from the childhood home or ashtrays from the time when smoking was still a livsstilssymbol. The emphasis is on the ”big five” artists: Anna-Lisa Thomson, Vicke Lindstrand, Ingrid Atterberg, Mari Simmulson and Hjördis Oldfors. Some of their works have become classics, such as Ingrid Atterberg Pepita-series. To this category belong also some of Anna-Lisa Thomson’s comics with names like sweet Peppers, Athene and Spectra. Many also feel again Mari Simmulsons-eyed women in different variations. “
“Sometimes the scrolling reason to aesthetic concerns is: How do Vicke Lindstrands ceramic products in comparison with his award-winning glass? He was the artistic director of the Upsala-Ekeby 1942-50 and came from the glass industry. Where he would later return. But from his subtle glass art, it is a giant step to the ceramic elephants that were so popular at the time. “
“He was not alone to design the trumpeting snablar in different angles. Even artists that Göran Andersson and Anna-Lisa Thomson involved in this craft but the customers cared enough not about who created what. It was a ”Ekebyelefant” you wanted to put on the shelf in the living room. “
“the Book treats in a special section figurines and sculptures as well as flower pots of various kinds. It was in the creation of the free figurinerna as the top artists in particular could excel. But they also contributed dutifully to the enormous manufacturing of the pots. According to a calculation sent more than five million different flower pots out on the Swedish market. This is, incidentally, about a range as in the day rather show up at flea markets than in the antiques.”
“That Palm says: ”In the window sill in the folkhemmets newly built homes was usually a flowerpot from the Upsala-Ekeby”. The company realized the need for this product was almost insatiable. In a blurb stated the conditions for mass production: ”In the omplanterings-times to each husmoder to give his friends amongst the flowers extra warmth and life through the new pots”. “
“Decorating in the outdoor environment was a different niche for the company. Banks, schools and företagsmatsalar was from a collection called ”Byggnadskeramik”. This was, inter alia, the well-liked djurreliefer and a modular mosaiksystem for decorating. The method gave, according to the Palm a ”pixlig abstract imagery” which now seems to be that Upsala-Ekebys most distinctive contribution to the public art history.”
“the Appetite grew while the tile spottades. 72 million plates a year were produced in the mid-60s. The company bought up other manufacturers in related industries, including porslinsfabrikerna Gefle and Karlskrona. Finally it was a veritable colossus on feet of clay. It was more quantity than quality, and the artists got tired. “
“I have an old personal relationship, Upsala-Ekeby. During the 1960s, I lived next door, it just framväxta the area of student housing. The company had its own railway station where you could take the yellow rail bus to Enköping. Went out on the morning walk towards the yet unexploited Flogstaområdet you could possibly meet on any of the artists or the skilled drejarna on their way to work.”
“But in 1978 was the golden era past. In 1979 it was the last train past the bruksstationen. Now it remains företagsminnen, partly summed up in Magnus Palms grand bokmonument.”
“the Big book of Upsala-Ekeby 1940-1978”
“Egmontu002FScandinavian Retro”
