Arabia Valencia dinner plate (set of 6)

  

Valencia (a city in Spain) features hand-painted cobalt blue flowers, dots, stripes and circles. This elegant and refined decoration by Ulla Procopé is said to be Arabia's most beautiful, and certainly one their most highly-prized decorations. It is the crown jewel of the Arabia company, and has a deep mysterious and luxurious feel. The repeating pattern is mesmerising and has a deliciously hypnotic and calming effect. The highlight of this design is the artful and calligraphic brush-strokes, which have required extreme skill.

Arabia was indeed much admired for the talent of its ceramic painters. The hand-painted nature of the pattern makes each dish excitingly unique and the colours shift in tone from pale watercolour washes to deep and luxurious tones. It is typical for the Valencia series, that the thickness of the glazing on top of the hand-paint varies. In some areas the glazing is matt and some areas it is more shiny because the glaze and the paint react with each other in the kiln. These changes in the pattern give the simple design an exciting illusion of three-dimensionality and depth.