PIONEER IN EVERYDAY CERAMICS
Marita Lybeck (1906–1990) applied to the Ateneum in 1922, as a sixteen years old. First to the general department and then to be educated as a the drawing teacher. She studied for a while in Paris, before returning to the Ateneum ceramics department.
Before the war, Marita Lybeck started her ceramics workshop on the family’s property in Kauniainen. She used domestic red clay in her ceramics, adopting simple shapes and decorations. The war interrupted production initially, however in 1941, she succeeded in acquiring an electric furnace to replace the the older and more dangerous oil-fired furnace. The functional style of her ceramics focused on beautiful everyday objects and innovative table settings. The oven ware was functional; it could also be brought directly to the table. Today, the rounded square dishes, straight mugs, stackable serving oven ware with ML-signing are collectibles, as it was no longer worthwhile to continue production industrially. Marita Lybeck eventually started working at Stockmann, where she established the Romantics department and where she was partly taking care of the applied art department.
