Most Moomin fans are familiar with the ceramic Moomin mugs and figurines from the early 1990s, when the TV series "Moomin" launched a global Moomin boom. However, the first Moomin figurines were created already in the 1950s. Get to know their story here!
On February 20th, 1956, entrepreneur Leo Tykkyläinen (1919-1984) got the rights to produce ceramic Moomin figurines with an agreement concluded by Tove Jansson and the department store Stockmann.
His work included several small figurines; the most familiar ones were a collection of baby deer, the three wise monkeys – and ten Moomin characters. His ceramic Moomin characters were manufactured exclusively for Stockmann and sold there between 1956-1963, after which their production moved to Arabia. Within this time, Leo produced about 15,000 pieces of ten different Moomin characters in his own workshop.
According to Anders Landén‘s book Treasures of Moominvalley (coming in 2024), the design of these figures has often been attributed to Tove’s mother, Signe Hammarsten Jansson. Her figurine designs could have been used for inspiration by Leo Tykkyläinen. The book also confirms that the first figurines produced in 1956 were Moominmamma, Moominpappa, Snorkmaiden and Moomintroll. In the following year, Little My, Snufkin, Misabel and Mymble were released, followed by Too-ticky and Inspector Hemulen in late 1957.
At the beginning of 1964, Leo got a job at the Arabia factory, and so the manufacturing rights for ceramic Moomin figurines transferred with him to the Wärtsilä group that Arabia was part of at the time. However, Arabia did not continue the production of ceramic Moomin figurines until Tove Jansson’s partner Tuulikki Pietilä designed new ones for them in the early 1990s, released together with the first Teema-shaped Moomin mugs.
The ceramic figurines weren’t the only Moomin product created in the 1950s. The very first Moomin mugs were also released by Arabia at the time, amongst other early productions Tove worked on.
Leo Tykkyläinen’s figurines presented at Rikhardinkatu library exhibition (Helsinki) in 2016
Each Moomin figure got several versions:
- Moominmamma: closed or open eyes, colour of body and apron varies
- Moominpappa: white or pink body
- Moomintroll: colour of body varies, for example white (most common), blue and pink
- Snorkmaiden: closed or open eyes, colour of body varies, sometimes golden bangle
- Snufkin: clothing either pink or blue (rare)
- Little My: different colours, green dress the rarest
- Mymble: several different colours of dresses and eyes, yellow dress the rarest
- Too-ticky: very rare, red or blue shirt
- Misabel: apron either pink or blue (rare)
- Police Hemulen: very rare, only one known model
A special edition of Moominpappa, to celebrate the 10 000 figurines
made in the workshop of Tykkyläinen
Images: The first and last image from the exhibition at Rikhardinkatu library, other images from a private collection
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