Porcelain Tea Set “Vita”

New acquisitions enter the museum’s collection in various ways – most often they are donations from people who no longer wish to keep certain items, but, recognizing their material or sentimental value, do not want to discard them.

The museum’s new acquisition – a porcelain dinnerware set from the Riga Porcelain and Faience Factory – is certainly one of these items, as it arrived at the museum almost from a waste bin next to an apartment building on Tīnūžu Street. We must thank the anonymous owner – for disposal, the dishes were carefully placed in a box and left next to the waste, rather than being simply dumped into a container.

The specific “Vita” dinnerware set is an excellent addition to the museum’s collection. Its value is enhanced by the good condition of the dishes, and almost the entire set has been preserved, including the main items: a coffee pot, a creamer, and a sugar bowl, all with their original lids, as well as six cups and seven saucers. Only the dessert plates are missing (these are larger than saucers, smooth, with a ribbed edge, usually white, and decorated with the same pattern as on the pot and cup bodies). The differing number of cups and saucers suggests the set was likely intended for a larger number of people. The set that arrived at the museum represents what has remained of the full collection over decades. For this type of dinnerware, the so-called “trio” – a cup, saucer, and plate – could be purchased separately, either as a souvenir or to supplement the set. It’s possible that for practical reasons, the owner decided to keep the dessert plates (they are larger and therefore more functional than saucers). As Iliana Veinberga, the chief curator of the Riga Porcelain Museum, helped to clarify, “the set is from the early production stages, because the sugar bowl is still the ‘old’ type, meaning it has an expanded top opening. Soon after this design was developed, due to production considerations, the sugar bowl was produced inverted – with a narrow top and a wide bottom.”

Therefore, the dish set most likely dates to the late 1920s, century 60. although this type of dinnerware (with the inverted sugar bowl shape) was also mass-produced throughout the 1920s. century 70. It is made from so-called thin-walled porcelain, which was widely used in the 1920s century 70. and became one of the factory’s specialties during this period. Various technologies were used for making the dishes: the coffee and creamer pots, sugar bowl, and cups are cast, while the saucers are molded.

Although we rarely consider it in our daily lives, behind every household item stands an artist, technologist, or designer, whose hours of dedicated work later transform into tangible objects that shape our everyday lives, interiors, and aesthetic taste. The form of the “Vita” dinnerware set was created by Zina Ulste, a long-time designer at the Riga Porcelain Factory, while the decor was designed by artist Maija Zagrebajeva. With various decor variations, “Vita” is one of the Riga Porcelain Factory’s most popular and longest-produced dinnerware forms.

Former history specialist of Ogres History and Art Museum
Santa Šustere