Praktika Tableware (1933) designed by Wilhelm Käge

Object Type

Set of stacking dishes with lid

Material and Making

White earthenware stacking dishes, oval with rounded sides, low foot rim, the smallest dish has a lid, decorated with hand-painted green enamel banding around rims.

Design & Designing

In the early years of the twentieth century, numerous European countries established organisations to promote good industrial design. The Swedish Society of Industrial Design urged companies to hire top artists and designers to develop innovative goods. Wilhelm Kage was commissioned by Gustavsberg, the country’s premier ceramic manufacturer, to develop a new modern dinnerware with a radical new brief in 1930. Rather than purchasing a complete service, Praktika was sold utilising the open stock retail approach, which allowed buyers to purchase the tableware piece by piece.

It was also made to stack easily for more effective storage, and it included parts that could be used in several ways, such as bowls that could also be used as lids for storage jars. Praktika used simple decoration, light colour, and clear basic forms. It was not an economic success when it was first released, and it only achieved favour with the public after World War II when it was relaunched.

Description

These bowls come in three different designs, the ‘Camping’ and ‘Kitchenette’ versions being the other two. They were made for everyday usage in the kitchen and on the table and were inexpensive to create. They were first shown in Oslo in 1933 and were praised for their ease of cleaning, basic designs, and storage compactness, all characteristics associated with Swedish design.

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