1940-1990s
In the 1940s, a notable addition was made to decorative objects. That is when Friedl Kjellberg attained his goal of ten years to bring back the rice porcelain technique, which originates from late 16th century China. At the beginning of the 1930s, Kjellberg had admired a small rice porcelain object from the Qianlong period in the industrial art museum of Vienna. The object’s classically beautiful shape and technical perfection gripped him and so this small bowl became the model for Kjellberg’s rice porcelain experiments for the next ten years. After several failed attempts, success was attained in 1941 and serial production was started four years later. Kjellberg founded a special rice porcelain department for which he hired dexterous and meticulous women – making rice porcelain was not easy.

Rice porcelain cannot be manufactured mechanically. The porcelain body is brittle when not fired and cutting the holes into the raw body requires care and a delicate hand. The holes are certainly not made with grains of rice, as was often originally believed. Friedl Kjellberg told how Arabia’s sales manager had been told about a conversation two women had about rice porcelain. One said she had seen for herself how the holes were made using grains of rice at which point the other cried out: “Oh, and we have a shortage of rice.” The sales manager immediately called Friedl Kjellberg and asked for some rice so that his children could have a decent pot of rice porridge.
Well, Kjellberg could not promise any ingredients for porridge. The holes are made by hand using a special knife and the contours of the holes are finished delicately. After the holes have been finished, the object is raw fired at 800 degrees, glazed and re-fired, now at 1380 degrees. The glaze forms a thin sheath over the holes, which when fired turns into translucent rice-grain shapes.

The rice porcelain department was most active in the 1950s and 60s. Different models were also added when the markets expanded. Friedl Kjellberg himself would have stuck to a few small, simple objects but as demand grew people wanted a wider selection of products.