Maria Lantz – A Piece of History

For many people, Orrefors is a historic brand which was part of establishing the design movement Swedish Grace as well as the expression Scandinavian Design during its glory days in the 20th century. Orrefors means more than that to Maria Lantz who is one of the authors writing articles for the brand. For her, Orrefors is a place reminding her of her childhood, enriched with many beautiful memories of the high-quality glass products and the trips to the glassworks.

“The place Orrefors and the brand Orrefors are both of great importance to me. When I was little, we often bought products from the glassworks when we wanted to find a special gift for someone or buy something nice for ourselves. The high-quality glass brought us an exclusive feeling to our everyday life,” she says.

Maria Lantz is Vice-Chancellor at University of Arts, Crafts and Design (Konstfack) and was previously a lecturer at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm in an education program for artists and architects. She has worked a lot with architecture in her own artistic oeuvre and often collaborates with other artists. She is not only a creator of art, she is also a copywriter. “I have stepped into the world of art but also the world of text production.”

Orrefors is a well-known topic for Maria from when she wrote a lengthy article about the glassworks´ history in the book The Unintentional Photographer (Den ofrivillige fotografen) about John Selbing, a photographer once employed at Orrefors. Then, she learned more about the glass and its history as a member of The Swedish Arts Grants Committee (Bildkonstnärsnämnden). It was during this time she discovered her fascination for glass, and she almost became obsessed with the material and the history around it. 

A historic memory

“Despite the difficult times with all the glassworks closing down, Orrefors is still living on in new ways”, says Maria Lantz. That the place for production is now in Kosta, but also in other European countries, she considers a part of moving forward, just as it is a part of history. The knowledge of glassmaking did after all come to Sweden from other countries, like Italy, Germany and the Czech Republic.

“It is important we preserve the knowledge and make sure it lives on. Historically for Orrefors, we see the value of having contact with the world around us,” she says.

Maria Lantz continues the profound journey in the world of glass through her collaboration with

Orrefors. She has written “A fascinating story created over more than a century” about Orrefors’ history on www.orrefors.se.

“It is so much fun to once again write about Orrefors. To be part of and develop the concept around the brand, what it could be and what it could mean for the future. It is also important to honor the historical memory”, she says.

By Sofie Karlsson