Stig Carlsson

Stig Carlsson, Bromölla 1960s.

Acquired as a 50th year anniversary gift in July 1964, thence by descent.

The seller explains: 'Sputnik and human spaceflight were very topical at the time, since in 1961 Yuri Gagarin had become the first human to orbit in space. At that time, Anders Bruno Liljefors had a studio in Bromölla where he could use the industrial ceramic kiln at Ifö-verken, a kiln that had sufficient volume and temperature for the works he produced. My father's acquaintance, was the manager of the Ifö factory in Bromölla, from where he had bought the relief directly from the artist. After my father's 50th birthday celebration, I helped put it up on a whitewashed wall in our modern living room. It graced its place!'

Stig Olov Lennart Carlsson (1932-2008) was a Swedish sculptor and designer. He began as an apprentice under Gunnar Nylund at the Rörstrand porcelain factory and studied at the Konstfack in Stockholm. After study trips to Italy and Spain, he was employed in 1955 as the artistic director at the Ifö Works in Bromölla, where he, among other things, produced garden urns in chamotte. In the late 1960s, he worked for Jie Gantofta, and in the mid-1970s, he furnished the old closed-down pension Strandhem in Nyhamnsläge as a studio, exhibition space, and residence. Here, he created hundreds of large decorations in wood and ceramics for churches, hospitals, and sports facilities throughout the country.