Karin Björquist

Karin Björquist with the architect Kjell Abramson in the Mariatorget subway station in Stockholm around 1963

Karin Björquist (* in Säffle on January 2, 1927 ; † in Stockholm on September 2, 2018 ) was a Swedish ceramist and designer who worked for the Gustavsberg manufactory for over 40 years .

Kobolt teacup from 1958

The 1991 Nobelservis

life and work

Karin Björquist came to the porcelain manufactory in Gustavsberg in 1959 and worked there until 1993. From 1972 to 1985 she was artistic director. Along with Stig Lindberg, she is one of the most important ceramists of the twentieth century in Sweden and has made a name for herself with her numerous services .

She designed around twenty sets, including Svart Ruter (1953), Kobolt (1958), Röd Kant (1968), Stockholm (1980) and the absolute Nobelservisen festival service , which was launched in 1991 on the 90th anniversary of the Nobel Foundation . Since then, the annual noble banquet in Stockholm's Stadshus has been covered with this tableware. The artistic ceramic design of the Mariatorget subway station (1965) and the new Reichsbank building by the architect Peter Celsing (1976), both in Stockholm , are also on their account.

Björquist described her point of view in the following words:

“The two most important pieces of furniture in a house are the bed and the table. I don't need to say anything more about beds. At the table you meet friends who enjoy sitting at a nicely set table. And since the world is full of things today, it is important that designers create objects that matter. Above all, you have to accept the time in which you live so that you are neither nostalgic nor seduced by fleeting fashions! "

Karin Björquist has succeeded in combining the everyday object with aesthetic beauty, following the motto of the Svenska Slöjdföreningen (today Svensk Form) "vackrare vardagsvara" (prettier everyday object ). She has received many awards over the years, including a. the gold medal of the Triennale in Milan in 1954, Lunningpriset in 1963 and the Prins Eugen Medal for “outstanding artistic activity” in 1982. In 1992 she received the Utmärkt Svensk Form from Svensk Form award for the Nobelservis . Her work can be seen in many museums in Sweden and other countries.

literature

• Arthur Hald, Hedvig Hedqvist: Karin Björquist: formgivare . Carlsson, Stockholm 1995. ISBN 91-7798-977-5 .
• Karin Björquist: Karin Björquist - formgivare på Gustavsberg . Carlsson, Stockholm 2017. ISBN 978-91-7331-840-2 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Susan Peterson, translation: Alexandra Merz, Bernd Pfannkuche: Craft and art of ceramics - technology, design, materials and history . 1st edition. Könemann Verlag, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-8290-2140-2 , p. 273 (first edition by Calman and King, London 1992/1995).