DesignerFinnish-Swedish
Lillemor Mannerheim
3 active items
Lillemor Mannerheim (1927–1994), born Ingeborg Aina Sophie Constance Mannerheim-Klingspor, was a countess, ceramist and illustrator with roots in the Finnish-Swedish Mannerheim noble family. Born in Finland as the second of three siblings, she moved to Sweden in 1945 to study at Konstfackskolan and later at Högre konstindustriella skolan, where she trained under ceramist Edgar Böckman. During summers in 1946 and 1947 she returned to Helsinki to work as a trainee at Arabia Porslinsfabrik, forming lasting friendships with figures such as Birger Kaipiainen.
In 1949 she joined Gefle porslinsfabrik in Gävle as a staff designer, where her most productive years ran from 1952 to 1957. She created the series Kulisaner, Dixie, Labyrint, Mambo, Pärlor, Föl, Solros and Singoalla, describing her asymmetric, flowing vessels as "mobile shapes." In 1951 she also contributed test models to the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres in France. After studying at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, where sculptor Ossip Zadkine shaped her approach to the human figure as abstraction, she moved on to Rörstrand in 1960.
Working later as a freelance designer, she collaborated with Rörstrands porslinsfabrik, Hovmantorps glasbruk, and Nässjö Stolfabrik, for whom she designed the Mona chair. In the 1980s Arabia commissioned her Endangered series of sculptural animal figurines, with all proceeds benefiting the WWF. She also produced the sculptural lip-balm form objects sold under the name Läppbalsam, which have become sought-after collector pieces. Her work is held in museums in Sweden, Finland and France, and she was among the first women to establish a career as a lead industrial designer in Scandinavia during a period when such roles were almost exclusively occupied by men.
On the auction market, Mannerheim's ceramics appear regularly at Swedish regional houses. Her Gefle series vases command steady prices among mid-century Scandinavian collectors, while the Läppbalsam sculptural pair has reached 25,273 SEK. Animal figurines, including zebra and penguin forms, and the Mona chair series produced by Nesto also trade actively. Demand reflects sustained collector interest in postwar Scandinavian studio ceramics.