INGRID ATTERBERG. “Parma”, a vase, model 2204, Upsala-Ekeby, 1953-56.

Glazed earthenware. Height 28 cm.

Parma shared models with two other of Ingrid Atterberg's “Italian” art goods ranges, Confetti and Retina. Atterberg spent a lot of time in Italy, freelancing there for a period, and inspired himself stylistically and also in naming. Other series of Atterberg that can be attributed to this group are, for example, Bari, Corso and Strega.

Background: One of the designers at Upsala-Ekeby who was closest to clay, the material, was Ingrid Atterberg (1920-2008). She experimented from the very beginning, like the schooled ceramist she was, with clays, glazes and techniques. For example, she revived black clay, a mixture of red clay and manganese oxide, and made it an impactful feature in many art series, not only her own; she also produced a series, Sintergods, which succeeded in producing stoneware effects from the Uppland clay; she also found a way to use the effects of chamotte clay without having to twist it.

But Ingrid Atterberg would not have taken the place as one of the greats of Swedish ceramics, if she had not managed to reconcile her feeling for the clay with a style-proof modernist compass. Especially during the 1950s this manifested itself, with series such as Pepita, Domino, Pylon, Short series, Tricorn, Chamotte, Spira and others. She left the factory in 1964, for other design assignments. By then, she had been there for 20 years. Eventually she resumed ceramics in her own studio in Uppsala, where she continued her diligent experimentation with clay and glazes, but with a radically different ware as a result.