Mid-Century Scandinavian Modern Brutalist Art Design Art Pottery Vase by Mari Simmulson for Upsala Ekeby, Sweden, 1970s

A fantastic vintage handmade brutalist art pottery vase made by the talented and well-known artist Mari Simmulson for equally famous Upsala Ekeby in the 60s. It has a dark brown base with fantastic details in the graphic patterns and will be an eye-catching centerpiece. It is signed and in a good condition. The rustic ambience of this vase, makes it a piece of art.

It is 16cm (6.29") high and around 11cm (4.33") in diameter and in a very good condition.

Mari Simmulson (1911-2000), a true artist and designer of art pottery.

She was born in St. Petersburg and was an Estonian-Swedish ceramicist, painter and textile artist. After graduating from Tallinn in 1930, Simmulson studied for Professor Jaco at the State School of Art 1931–1935. As a research fellow, she came to Helsinki in 1937, where she worked as a freelance artist and designer of pottery at Arabia. She came to Sweden as a refugee in 1944 and the following year was employed at Gustavsbergs keramik Studio where she worked until she was linked to Uppsala-Ekeby keramik in 1949 until 1972. She is one of Scandinavia’s most award-winning artists of her time and she is represented in many Museums and galleries worldwide. In more recent time has her work gained interest and become very sought after, her style was always uncompromising, bold, and contemporary. Thus one can frequently see her mid-century modern creations in more and more interior design features.

Upsala-Ekeby ceramic, one of Sweden’s leading brands when it comes to mid-century modern art pottery.

Functionality and design

They focused on interior design which was useful, but always with stylish design, in order to achieve this they hired some of the best designers such as Hjördis Oldfors, Mari Simmulson, Arthur Percy, Olle Alberius, Carl Malmsten, Vicke Lindstrand, and Ingrid Atterberg to name a few. This meant that the company quickly gained a reputation of being one of Scandinavia’s leading brands when it came to Mid-century modern art and design pottery. The company’s ceramic manufacturing began in the 1960s in response to growing sales of both tableware, vases and other object used for interior decor as well as art ceramics.