A Short History of Rörstrand
– Sweden’s Acclaimed Ceramic Factory

Rörstrand starts in Stockholm

Rörstrand was founded in the castle of Rörstrand in Stockholm in 1726. (This makes it the second oldest ceramic factory in Europe after Meissen). A consortium of twenty wealthy noblemen and merchants financed Johann Wolff, a German porcelain maker, to start the factory. The project was part of the strong mercantilist current in the early 18th century Sweden - the goal was to make the country self-sufficient as much as possible.

Painting of the Rörstrand factory in the 1850s. Unknown artist.

Production of Faience

Rörstrand started to make faience, a tin-glazed earthenware. The decors were often cobalt blue flower patterns, inspired by Chinese and Dutch porcelain. They were hand-painted on unburned glaze, then covered with a clear glaze, and then burned. The faience objects were fragile and damaged easily. But pottery slowly became more common among wealthy people, gradually replacing metal food pates.

Rörstrand faience plate from the 18th century.

Gustavsberg pottery series “Ecclesial” from the 1840s

Rörstrand faience plate from the 18th century

Swedish Style Patterns

In the 1740s, Rörstrand started to develop its own style and patterns, such as the Rehnska pattern, designed by Jean-Erik Rehn (1717-1793). This exuberant pattern with an abundance of curves was the best-seller for almost 30 years. When the first national competitors arrived in 1758, Rörstrand started to use the brand stamp in addition to the location and year marks. In the Sweden’s larger cities, for many years, the factory’s goods were exclusively sold at special pottery shops.

Replica of a terrin with the Rehnska pattern from mid 18th century

Jean-Erik Rehn, the successful 18th century designer of Rörstrand

Rokoko Influences

In the latter half of the 18th century, Rokoko and nature provided artistic inspiration for the Rörstrand designers. The pottery was decorated with sculpted plants, fruits, and animals. Several colors were used, not just the monochrome blue decor. Earthenware gradually replaced the faience as material. During this period, Rörstrand also launched the first complete dinner service “Sepia”.

Replica of a terrin with Rokoko style from the late 18th century

Dish from the Sepia series, the first complete dinner service from Rörstrand

Modernization at Rörstrand

At the start of the 19th century, modernization took place with major technological advances including the first steam engines. Copper plates were now used to press decor, in addition to the hand-painting. Dinner services became more popular and they were composed of more and more parts. The decors, like “Svart Sverige” (Black Sweden) and “Willow”, were often inspired by the English countryside or by more exotic regions.

The Rörstrand decors ”Svart Sverige"

”Willow” from the 19th century

Production of Porcelain

In the latter half of the 19th century, Rörstrand started producing bone china and feldspar porcelain. The factory had some prosperous years, and it became one of Sweden's ten largest corporations. Rörstrand started the Arabia factory in Finland in 1873 to circumvent the high trade tariffs to the growing Russian market. In the 1880s, the characteristic three crowns (a symbol of Sweden) were added to the factory mark. This was the "great dining era" in Sweden where decorated dining rooms and large dinner services gave prestige to the household. One of more popular series was “Flytande blått” (Liquid blue) with cobalt blue decor showing oriental scenes.

Dinner services ”Flytande blått” from the late 19th century

The Rörstrand mark with the three crowns from the same era

Art Nouveau and Alf Wallander

By the turn of the 1900s, Rörstrand was successful at exhibitions around the world with its Art Nouveau style. The factory aimed for new technical and aesthetic heights, and artists were hired at a rapid pace. Alf Wallander (1862-1914), the artistic leader, was internationally recognized for his art pieces and innovative tableware. In 1926, Rörstrand moved from Stockholm to Gothenburg, and only a few years later, to Lidköping.

Alf Wallander, artistic leader at Rörstrand from 1900

Wallander vase from the early 1900s in the Art Nouveau style

Rörstrand’s Grand Old Lady

Rörstrand’s Louise Adelborg (1885-1971) presented the “National Service” at the legendary Stockholm Exhibition of 1930. The elegant dinner service with wheat-ear motif was subsequently called “Swedish grace” and is still in production. Adelborg produced a multitude of decorative patterns between 1915 and 1971 and was appropriately called the “Rörstrand’s grand old lady”.

Louise Adelborg inspecting her delicate design

Parts of the national service”Swedish grace” from 1930

The Ostindia Success

In 1932, Rörstrand presented the dinner service “Ostindia”. (The service was later voted “Service of the Century” in Sweden.) The motif comes from a porcelain fragment from the cargo ship “Gothenburg” which sank in 1746 while returning from China. The service has been updated a few times during the years but keeps the restrained elegance of the original.

Rörstrand’s dinner service ”Ostindia” from 1932

Stoneware and Gunnar Nylund

Gunnar Nylund (1904-1997) was employed as artistic leader at Rörstrand in 1932. His hiring would start an era with stoneware artworks of unsurpassed quality. The stoneware vases and bowls with modern shape and matte and feldspar glaze are sought after among the pottery collectors of today.

Gunnar Nylund inspecting a vase

Slender stonware vase with feldspar glaze from the 1950s

Carl-Harry Stålhane’s Perfect Vases

Carl-Harry Stålhane (1920-1990) started at Rörstrand in 1938 decorating ceramic wares for Nylund. In the mid-1940s, he began to develop his own pottery. Stålhane was praised for his “column-like, slender-necked vases with their peach surfaces”, as one magazine put it. In 1958, he replaced Nylund as the artistic leader.

Carl-Harry Stålhane

Stream lined vase with glossy purple glaze from the 1950s

Blue Fire and Hertha Bengtson

In 1941, Hertha Bengtson (1917-1993) was hired to decorate objects, but her interest steered her towards work in design. She had a strong interest in designing porcelain services, which was not considered particularly inspiring by her fellow artists. When “Blå eld" (Blue fire) was released in 1950, Hertha proved that everyday service items can be expressions of artistic integrity. Blue fire was a huge sales success, both in Sweden and abroad.

Tableware series "Blue fire" from 1950

Hertha Bengtson in the 1950s

The Porcelain Mom Marianne Westman

Rörstrand developed distinctive and lighthearted design for household items in the 1950s and 1960s. For the most part, Marianne Westman (1928-2017), was the designer. Her series, such as Mon Amie, Picknick, and Red Top, represented almost half of Rörstrand's sales during these decades. She was even called the "porcelain mom" by the factory’s workforce because of her many porcelain successes.

Objects from the success series of Mon Amie

Marianne Westman in the late 1950s

Inger Persson - The Queen of Pop

In the late 1960s, popular culture influenced the Rörstrand designers. It comprises ten objects with architectonic shape and enamel glazes in strong colors. Originally, the Rörstrand management wanted to produce the series in just one color. However, Inger stood her ground, and the series was expanded to six different glazes.

Parts of the ”Pop” series from 1968

Inger Persson at the throwing wheel

Tougher Times

The 1970s were tough times for the factory because of increasing international competition. Rörstrand ended the full-time employment for all the designers and started to rely on free-lancers. Even though this era had many brilliant design moments like Signe Persson-Melin’s teapots and Pia Törnell's Cirrus vase, the good economic times never returned. In 2005, the company finally closed the Lidköping factory ending nearly 300 years of production in Sweden. The brand is now part of the Finnish Fiskars group, alongside other Nordic brands like Arabia and Iittala.

Pia Törnell's Cirrus vase from the 1990s

Signe Persson-Melin’s teapot from the 1980s

A Short History of Rörstrand – Sweden’s Acclaimed Ceramic Factory