Timo Sarpaneva, outstanding representative of Scandinavian design of the 20th century, had been inspired by nature itself - by boulders which had been rounded and smoothed in the course of time by the never-ending flow of the river - when he designed the shape »Suomi«. With this project he wanted "to create a product line that was meant to bring about in all people, regardless of their age, the feeling of intimacy and warmth, the haptic sensation felt by tight contact of touching hands. I wanted to create a shape that outwears time, evokes joy and good memories in more than one generation."
The geometric basic elements of »Suomi« are the quadrat and the circle. When attempting the "quadrature of the circle", Sarpaneva succeeded in uniting these two contrasting elements. This results in hollow-ware of great sculptural quality, which remind of the works of a sculptor. The plates do not show the traditional round shape, but the shape of a so-called Japanese quadrat, i.e. a quadrat with chamfered edges. A »Suomi« speciality are the metal handles of tea/coffee pot, sauce-boat and tureen, which provide a forceful tension between porcelain and steel.
In 1972 Sarpaneva began modelling »Suomi«, the first samples being made of wood. Four years of elaborate, detailed work and about 15 trials for the coffe pot, for example, were necessary to find the ideal solution. Porcelain as a material proved once again to be very challenging for the designer with regards to persistency and concentration. When the product line was launched in the market in 1976, it was a sudden public success and much acclaimed even by design critics. »Suomi« is presumably the most often awarded shape in plain-white worldwide and in 1992 it was accepted into the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris:
Medaglia d'Oro (1976) »Suomi«
Die Gute Industrieform / iF (1977) »Suomi« Speiseservice
Die Gute Industrieform / iF (1977) »Suomi« Kaffeeservice
Die Gute Industrieform / iF (1977) »Suomi Weissgold« Speiseservice
Die Gute Industrieform / iF (1977) »Suomi Weissgold« Kaffeeservice
Hauptpreis IGP (1979) »Suomi«
Die Gute Industrieform / iF (1980) »Suomi« Speiseservice
Die Gute Industrieform / iF (1980) »Suomi« Kaffeeservice
»Suomi« also gained much attention in the arts. Even though the Suomi shape is regarded as difficult to decorate because of its dominant shape language, many artists followed the Rosenthal invitation and decorated for the "Edition Suomi" a single object in their own characteristic way. Since 1976 the Rosenthal limited art edition has been a forum for art and design, where objects d’art were created by
