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Fornasetti at Svenskt Tenn, Stockholm Design Week 2014

Milan, November 25th 1964.

Dear Mrs. Ericson,

I entered your house, I saw myself reflected in the crystal globe, I patted your dogs, and your cat, the king of your house! I admired the atmosphere created by you, which is the expression of the personality you put into everything you do.

It is a real pleasure, it is a great honour, to work for you. Your kindness is such that it distinguishes you, your fidelity to my work represents my prize and encourages me.

It is rare to meet people like you who inspire such a reliance and charm.

Sincerely yours,

Piero Fornasetti

SvensktTenn Fornasetti

Svenskt Tenn‘s founder Estrid Ericson and Piero Fornasetti were great friends with huge respect for one another’s creativity. Their collaboration started almost twenty years before this letter, when Fornasetti produced the now iconic Stockholm Plate, a design by Svenskt Tenn co-founder Josef Frank in 1946.

SvensktTenn Fornasetti

Piero Fornasetti, a painter, sculptor, interior designer and the creator of more than 13,000 products in his lifetime has been superseded by his son Barnaba Fornasetti who is reinterpreting his father’s designs using the same handcrafted techniques and atelier skills that were used for the originals. Color is still applied by hand using the original paper patterns.

SvensktTenn Fornasetti

The exhibition, which celebrates Fornasetti’s work, marks the 90th anniversary of Svenskt Tenn and was timed to coincide with Stockholm Design Week.

SvensktTenn Fornasetti

It is a reminder of how prolific and talented Fornasetti was, but it’s also a testament to friendship and collaboration. To this day, Svenskt Tenn is the only authorized Fornasetti distributor (apart from wallpaper and textiles) in Sweden.

SvensktTenn Fornasetti

Katie Treggiden is a purpose-driven journalist, author and, podcaster championing a circular approach to design – because Planet Earth needs better stories. She is also the founder and director of Making Design Circular, a program and membership community for designer-makers who want to join the circular economy. With 20 years' experience in the creative industries, she regularly contributes to publications such as The Guardian, Crafts Magazine and Monocle24 – as well as being Editor at Large for Design Milk. She is currently exploring the question ‘can craft save the world?’ through an emerging body of work that includes her fifth book, Wasted: When Trash Becomes Treasure (Ludion, 2020), and a podcast, Circular with Katie Treggiden.