Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory Värmdö, Sweden Jar with Cover 1899 Glazed porcelain Designed by Josef Ekberg 1877-1945 22-3/4 inches high, 13 inches in diameter Gift of the Decorative Arts Council and Daniel Morris and Denis Gallion, Historical Design Collection, New York 94.35a,b

This tall, green ceramic jar with a cover, designed by Joseph Ekberg, was made at the Gustavsberg Porcelain Factory on the Baltic inlet of Värmdö, near Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 1827, the factory employed 900 workers by 1900 and produced a wide variety of porcelain, stoneware, and tin-glazed earthenware. It became an important center for the development of Swedish ceramics. Gunnar Wennerberg, whose name appears on the jar's base, was the factory's artistic director between 1897 and 1908. Josef Ekberg created many designs for Gustavsberg from 1897 until his death in 1945. His initials are lightly INCISED near the edge of the base. Made in 1899, the jar is one of Ekberg's early works for the factory.

In the late 1800s, with the arrival of the Industrial Revolution, the Swedish economy grew rapidly. A new upper class of industrial leaders, bankers, and merchants increased the demand for factory- made goods and services. In the wealthier parts of the city, the upper class lived in stylish apartments, which they could afford to decorate lavishly with the new products of the arts and crafts industries. But problems of housing shortages, high rents, and unsuitable housing conditions also proliferated, as hundreds of thousands of people moved from rural, agricultural areas to find jobs in the booming cities.

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