Since 2008, the Mymble Moomin mug has been part of Arabia’s Moomin mug series. It has remained popular year after year among the Moomin mug collectors and retained its place in continuous production for almost ten years.
Before this beautiful mug came to the market, a variety of versions were made in Arabia’s factory in Finland. While designing the Moomin mugs several colours are tested as the final tone can only be seen after heating the mug to high temperatures.
Nora Haatainen, Product and Marketing Manager of Moomin products explained: “The product development of one Moomin mug takes about 1,5 to 2 years. The tones in the ceramic products are always different depending on the combinations of colours and tones. Of course also the final firing in over 1200 degrees Celcius affects to the final colour as well.”
“The colours for each product are always tested case-by-case and often a few different versions of the mugs are pre-produced,” Haatainen continues.
In 2006 Arabia made a colouring experiment with light pink as the background colour for Mymble. After testing, the darker colour was chosen.
Nora Haatainen said: “In this mug the tones and the drawing were relevant. Darker and on the other hand also a bit warmer fit better for love-struck Mymble. The colour also complemented the existing mug series at that time.”
A unique mug for Moomin Characters’ collection from a charity auction
Some of the prototypes of Arabia’s Moomin mugs were seen in Arabia’s Moomin mug exhibition, “Mugs with a story to tell – Moomin” in 2014. This particular version of the Mymble mug was not seen there but is known to have made its debut now in November at the Finland 100 party organized by Fiskars Group.
During the event, a charity auction was held offering unique Finnish design objects. Among other Finnish design classics, this mug, manufactured at the Arabia factory in Finland, was also auctioned. Moomin Characters Oy Ltd, founded by Tove and Lars Jansson in the 1950s, bought this unique mug into the company’s Moomin mug collection. The full profits from the auction were donated to SOS Children’s Villages Finland.