Generous stoneware plates in soft oat glazes.
In a limestone barn in the south-east of Öland, everything is set up for a summer party. On one of the long tables in the barn, there are stacks of rustic stoneware plates and bowls in soft natural colors. They form the basis of a beautiful rustic stoneware service that was presented in August 2017 and is the result of a collaboration between Paradisverkstaden and Lantliv magazine , Paradis C/O Lantliv.
"It is a special feeling to set the table with hand-turned stoneware ceramics on linen, all the materials are real."
Paradis C/O Lantliv, a rustic series of ceramic utensils in 15 parts in four colours, oat, white, gray and dark grey, beautiful to combine with each other. The series consists of plates, plates, pokebowls and four large bowls to prepare the food in, serve and set the table with, a large beautiful serving plate that looks great on the counter as a bread plate, a carafe, a small mini bowl, two smaller bowls and breakfast pieces that cup, bowl and egg cup.
- We wanted to create a collection with a rustic country expression combined with a more modern, functional form. The fact that we were nominated for Formex Formidable shows that we have succeeded in creating a modern design classic, says Anna-Lena Sventelius, editor-in-chief at Lantliv and initiator of the collaboration.
A skilled turner sets the shape in a single movement. Lantliv's series has generous shapes and on the inside you can clearly see the traces of the hand of the turner. As a ceramicist, you have to submit to the material's own pace. The clay cannot be rushed, it must be allowed to dry completely and it must be fired and cooled slowly. It is a process that requires knowledge and takes time. Most of what is produced in the workshop has been handled by hand in nearly 30 different stages. Different series are produced in different ways, but a larger barrel can take several weeks.
On Öland, nature and agriculture are close. The earth gives us crops, beets, beets, potatoes, fruit trees, berry bushes, rapeseed, spices, oats and even clay is taken from the earth. Serving food in ceramic vessels completes the circle. The hands work the soil, work the clay and finally the food. It is beautiful to decorate the table with different grasses and meadow flowers.
For a rustic table setting, we use vintage cutlery, oil lamps or light dishes, glass vases, rustic wooden cutting boards, towels and linen tablecloths, herbs, country bread, carafes of wine or wild bouquets.
On Öland farms, there is often a limestone barn next to the residential building that can be used for parties, a studio or an orangery. We celebrate Easter in April, the sprouts in May, Midsummer in June, the crayfish in August and the harvest festival in September on Öland.
The Paradis C/O Lantliv tableware can remind us of the meals that are prepared and served in the country kitchen or the outdoor kitchen in the garden, the big dinners where everyone, family and friends gather. The crops and ceramics are local and locally produced like in Italy, the South of France or in the past here. In the past, people used to feast on what they harvested, as they still do in the South of France.
"There is something very lovely about offering food in open, beautiful, generous vessels. You want the guests around the table to feel that warmth and desire" Hannah Paradis
This is where Spillkum is filmed. When the bowl is turned, the turner makes the pipes with his thumb in the wet clay.
All bowls/spill basins in Paradis C/O Lantliv have two spouts, a shape detail that also has a nice function when pouring as a support and stop and good for putting the serving cutlery in when serving.
Here Pokebowls are dipped glazed in the workshop.
Paradis C/O Lantliv, breakfast in Havre. Cup with ear, breakfast bowl and plates. (Cup in Blush and mouth-blown glass Morgon gray ).
The country life series is dipped, which gives the typical line between clay and glaze. On the Oat and Gray Glazes, vibrant effects arise in the encounter between the clay and the glaze during firing. The glaze must be thick enough so that it does not run or become too thin. Then the goods go to the second firing, up to 1,250 degrees. Here, a process called sintering takes place, when the ceramic is vitrified and becomes durable and waterproof. The glaze must come to exactly the right temperature. Different glazes are different sensitive. The oven setter puts together a three-dimensional puzzle where the different glazes have different places in the oven. It takes about half a day to go up to the peak temperature and then down again via plateaus and equalization temperatures for a total of about 3 days.
The workshop, shop and residential building on Öland are designed by Olof Paradis and have developed over the years as production has changed and grown. Former oven rooms, decor and turning areas in the workshops have become studios and exciting retail spaces. In 2015, the new workshop was inaugurated and it is open to visitors all year round. Welcome!
Breakfast in the kitchen: Paradis C/O Lantliv in Havre, cup with ear, assiette, egg cup, jug 0.5 l, spill sump 0.3 - 0.5 l, spill sump mini (Cup in glossy ocher and hand-blown glass Morgon gray )
All parts of the tableware are turned and glazed by hand, except for the dinner plate and plate, they are turned to shape as they should be easy to stack. Soft, round silhouettes and shapes. Mugs, bowls, plates & vessels, piled together. The clay, the glaze and the hand together create small shifts in each product, together it provides a lively and sensuous table setting that can inspire pleasant conversations around the table and activate additional senses for the meal. The lines of the hands after turning are visible in the clay, whose raw texture can be glimpsed on the underside of the parts. All parts are meant to be used in everyday life and can be washed in the dishwasher and heated in the oven and in the microwave as they are made of stoneware clay.
"I prefer to have fewer items in my kitchen but that the ones there are versatile, durable and beautiful. It is important that the everyday objects are sufficiently numerous and appeal to the eye, then they last over time," says Anna-Lena Sventelius.
Nature's own color palette works especially well against the ceramics
All parts are safe to use in the dishwasher and microwave. You can bake, prepare in the same vessel. The largest dish/basin is 40 cm in diameter and is wonderful on the kitchen island, kitchen counter or in the middle of the table filled with bread, seasonal vegetables or a large pasta. Feel free to use wooden spoons when serving for the sake of the natural and soft feeling and a beautiful linen towel around the bread.
