For over 75 years, the adventures of the fantasy character Moomintroll and his Moomin family have enchanted children. Introduced by the Finnish designer Tove Jansson in 1947, the Moomin family has been immortalised in nine books, including four picture books and comic strips.
In 1990, Finnish illustrator Tove Slotte presented the Teema series, a set of four mugs featuring the chubby Moomins. The four copies, Mug Green, Mug Blue, Mug Rose and Mug Yellow, marked the beginning of a long series produced by the Finnish manufacturer Arabia.
Since 1990, the Arabia brand has introduced more than 130 mugs. The oldest are coveted collectors' items and regularly appear at auction, where they can fetch thousands.
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During the 1990s, 18 mugs were released, all featuring Moomins from Tove Jansson's books. At the time, Jansson agreed to work with Arabia and Slotte to mass-produce Moomin mugs, as she had previously worked with the company in the 1950s.
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Tove Jansson loved the new cups so much that she used them daily. She had, among other things, approved the making of children's plates and tableware, which she hoped to include in the series. Her partner, artist Tuulikki Pietilä, made ceramic figurines for the series.
In 1991, Tove Slotte, on maternity leave, had to give up the artistic design temporarily. The designer and artist Camilla Mobring designed the four mugs made that year. Numbers mugs 5-8: Dark Green, Dark Blue, Dark Pink and Dark Yellow.
It wasn't until 1996 that the next part of the Teema series saw the light of day when Tove Slotte returned to the production of Moomin mugs. The models launched in 1996 and 1997 were named: Design, Peace, Office, Love and Christmas Wishes.
Fred is one of the most coveted variations created and Amour is the only mug in the series that has never been taken out of production.
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The Christmas Wishes mug, which has also become a collector's item, is considered the first 'special' mug in the series. In 2000, another limited edition was introduced under the name Millennium, which was only released for a short time.
In 1999, the company made its comeback. With so many characters, it was difficult to keep going with the smaller scenes and the creators decided to dedicate a mug to a specific character.
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Moominpappa, Moominmamma, Moomintroll and Little My were therefore chosen. The copy with Little My was produced from 1999 to 2007, before reappearing in 2011 for an anniversary.
Over the next ten years (2000-2009), the Moomins decorated 27 more cups. Surprisingly, the most coveted variant ever produced is the limited edition mug designed for the Fazer Chocolate Factory in 2004, of which only 400 copies were made. A Fazer mug sold in 2018 for $5,950 (£4,500) at auction.
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This is an updated version of an article originally published on 17 August 2020.
