On Wednesday, January 18, Posti will release two new stamps to commemorate Arabia’s 150th anniversary.
Arabia’s tableware will have been part of the daily life of Finns for 150 years. To commemorate Arabia’s anniversary, Posti will publish two stamps featuring older and newer Arabia products.
“Ilkka Kärkkäinen, who has worked with the Arabia brand for 10 years and designed the stamp mark familiar from Arabia’s dishes, was chosen to create the Arabia anniversary stamps,” says Tommi Kantola, Design Manager at Posti, who is responsible for the selection of the artists and for providing guidance on the artistic work for the stamps.
Arabia's production has been extensive.
“There was a cornucopia of beautiful dishes and patterns to choose from. I looked at how the colors and patterns of different pieces work in the small size of a stamp and chose the products accordingly,” says Ilkka Kärkkäinen, the designer of the stamps.
Arabia's retro stamp includes Ulla Procopé’s Valencia plate, Raija Uosikkinen’s Pomona series jug and jam jar, and Greta-Lisa Jäderholm-Snellman's classic Armi coffee cup.
The dishes in the Arabia stamp for newer products are EsteriTomula’s Esteri jug, Birger Kaipiainen’s Sunnuntai plate, IrinaViippola’s Mainio Sarastus cups and bowls from the Koko range designed by Kati Tuominen-Niittylä and Kristina Riska.
For the first time, the Arabia stamps include a 2D barcode, which makes mechanical sorting easier.
Arabia 150 Years is a 10-stamp sheet containing two different domestic no-value indicator stamps.
First-day event at Helsinki Main Post Office on January 18, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The first-day event for the January stamps will be organized on Wednesday, January 18 at the Helsinki Main Post Office (Elielinaukio 2 F, 00100 Helsinki) from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
New stamps, first-day covers and other stamp products will be sold at the event, and visitors can get first-day postmarks on their items. The stamp artists will be present to sign their works from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
The first-day event of the stamps to be published in May will be held at the Helsinki Main Post Office on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
All of the stamps for sale are featured in Posti’s online shop.