Kaj Franck Decanter

Kaj Gabriel Franck was a leading figure in 20th-century Finnish design, specializing in ceramics and glass. As the creative director of Arabia Ceramics, now part of Iittala, he, along with fellow Finns Timo Sarpaneva and Tapio Wirkkala, helped popularize the bright, warm and curvy aesthetic of Scandinavian modernism. Design Forum Finland’s Kaj Franck Design Prize, established in 1992 and awarded each year around his birthday, is among the country’s most prestigious honors for designers.

Franck was born in 1911 in the city of Vyborg, which now belongs to Russia, but was then part of the Grand Duchy of Finland. He studied furniture design at the Central School of Industrial Design in Helsinki, and after graduating in 1932, worked as a catalogue illustrator for the Riihimäki glassworks, exploring interior and textile design on the side. 

Having served in the Finnish armed forces during World War II, Franck joined Arabia in 1945 as their head of design. He remained with the company for many years, steering its line of tableware in a dynamic new direction. Franck professed an aversion to superfluous ornament. His ceramic designs were nevertheless complex and eye-catching, animated with playful, geometric forms. One of his most famous creations for Arabia was the Origami dish from the early 1960s, a glossy all-white serving piece resembling a subtly folded piece of paper with four shallow sections for holding food.

Although his Arabia ceramics became household staples for consumers in Scandinavia and beyond, Franck is better known among collectors for his glass designs, particularly those he created for Iittala starting in the late 1940s. In a 1947 Iittala-sponsored glass competition, Franck shared the top prize with Tapio Wirkkala. In 1950, he designed the company’s iconic Kartio series of pressed-glass pitchers and glasses, which came in different colors that consumers could “mix and match” rather than having to buy a homogeneous set. In 1977, Franck redesigned the series, renamed Teemaa.

Franck’s designs for Iittala embodied the Finnish concept of pelkistetty, which literally means “reduced” and in the design world refers to the pared-down, minimal qualities of modernism. This principle, evidenced in objects like his elegant, unfussy sets of jewel-toned drinking glasses from the 1960s, informed Franck’s view of the manufacturing process as well. Critical of mass production and consumerism, he was one of the country’s first professionals in his field to advocate recycling. He became known as the “conscience of Finnish design,” a role he embraced as a professor and later artistic director at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki. 

In honor of Franck’s 100th birthday, in 2011, Iittala reissued Kartio glasses, Teema tableware and Purnukka jars, among other of his designs that retain their contemporary feel decades after their creation.

Find vintage Kaj Franck glass, vases and other furniture and decor on 1stDibs.

Your dining room table is a place where stories are shared and personalities shine — why not treat yourself and your guests to the finest antique and vintage glass, silver, ceramics and serveware for your meals?

Just like the people who sit around your table, your serveware has its own stories and will help you create new memories with your friends and loved ones. From ceramic pottery to glass vases, set your table with serving pieces that add even more personality, color and texture to your dining experience.

Invite serveware from around the world to join your table settings. For special occasions, dress up your plates with a striking Imari charger from 19th-century Japan or incorporate Richard Ginori’s Italian porcelain plates into your dining experience. Celebrate the English ritual of afternoon tea with a Japanese tea set and an antique Victorian kettle. No matter how big or small your dining area is, there is room for the stories of many cultures and varied histories, and there are plenty of ways to add pizzazz to your meals.

Add different textures and colors to your table with dinner plates and pitchers of ceramic and silver or a porcelain lidded tureen, a serving dish with side handles that is often used for soups. Although porcelain and ceramic are both made in a kiln, porcelain is made with more refined clay and is more durable than ceramic because it is denser. The latter is ideal for statement pieces — your tall mid-century modern ceramic vase is a guaranteed conversation starter. And while your earthenware or stoneware is maybe better suited to everyday lunches as opposed to the fine bone china you’ve reserved for a holiday meal, handcrafted studio pottery coffee mugs can still be a rich expression of your personal style.

“My motto is ‘Have fun with it,’” says author and celebrated hostess Stephanie Booth Shafran. “It’s yin and yang, high and low, Crate Barrel with Christofle silver. I like to mix it up — sometimes in the dining room, sometimes on the kitchen banquette, sometimes in the loggia. It transports your guests and makes them feel more comfortable and relaxed.”

Introduce elegance at supper with silver, such as a platter from celebrated Massachusetts silversmith manufacturer Reed and Barton or a regal copper-finish flatware set designed by International Silver Company, another New England company that was incorporated in Meriden, Connecticut, in 1898. By then, Meriden had already earned the nickname “Silver City” for its position as a major hub of silver manufacturing.

At the bar, try a vintage wine cooler to keep bottles cool before serving or an Art Deco decanter and whiskey set for after-dinner drinks — there are many possibilities and no wrong answers for tableware, barware and serveware. Explore an expansive collection of antique and vintage glass, ceramics, silver and serveware today on 1stDibs.