Arthur Percy

His path from painter to industrial designer ran through Elsa Gullberg, the Svenska Slöjdföreningen placement broker who matched artists with factories. Gullberg had already placed Edward Hald at Rörstrand and Wilhelm Kåge at Gustavsberg; in 1923, she sent Percy to Gefle Porslinsfabrik in Gävle, where he would serve as artistic director for nearly three decades. The arrangement gave him a hundred days per year at the factory, freeing the rest for painting. At the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, Percy and Gefle received the Diplôme d'Honneur, cementing his status within what became known as Swedish Grace: that distinctly Nordic inflection of Art Deco, classically ordered, never overwrought.

Percy's ceramic output at Gefle moved from ornamental Art Deco toward increasingly restrained forms. Early patterns like Vinranka (Grapevine) and Tre blommor (Three Flowers) show confident decorative painting on creamware. The Rubin series, with its deep ox-blood red glazes and gold highlights, represents his most visually dramatic work. But by the 1930s, the Celadon service revealed a shift toward Asian-influenced minimalism and functionalist calm. He also designed textiles for AB Elsa Gullberg Textilier, including the patterns Angelica and Krokus.

In 1951, at sixty-five, Percy took on a second artistic directorship at Gullaskrufs glasbruk in Småland, where he remained until 1965. His pressed glass Reffla series deliberately stripped away over-ornamentation and gave Swedish pressed glass a modern, restrained character. The Reffla became a bestseller and is now a recognized collector's item, produced in multiple colors and sizes including large floor vases. For his final decade he returned entirely to painting, dying in 1976 in Vickleby, the same Öland village where he was born.

Percy received the Prince Eugen Medal in 1957, Sweden's royal honor for outstanding artistic achievement. His work is held by the Nationalmuseum, Moderna Museet, Prince Eugens Waldemarsudde, and museums across Sweden from Göteborg to Kalmar. His personal archive of sketches and drawings forms the foundation of Designarkivet at Kalmar konstmuseum.

On Auctionist, ceramics and porcelain dominate Percy's market with 191 of 268 items, followed by glass and paintings. His work circulates across Formstad Auktioner, Auctionet, Helsingborgs Auktionskammare, and Ekenbergs. Paintings reach the highest absolute prices, with a still life selling for 18,275 EUR. Among the applied arts, Gefle service sets are particularly sought after: a 47-piece "Turkos" set reached 5,100 SEK, and Hyacint tea cups sold for 4,250 SEK. Gullaskruf glass, especially the Reffla pieces, offers an accessible entry point for collectors drawn to the intersection of Swedish Grace and Mid-Century Modern.