Rosenthal Suomi. Rosenthal Suomi's organic form born out of circle and square found its inspiration in the shape of a river stone, smoothed by water. A form which equally flatters both hand and eye was designed by Timo Sarpaneva for Rosenthal Germany. Timo Sapaneva wanted to create a shape that outwears time, evokes joy and good memories in more than one generation like the worn stone. In 1972 Sarpaneva began modeling the Suomi pattern for Rosenthal, the first samples being made of wood. Four years of elaborate, detailed work and about 15 trials for the Suomi coffee pot, alone, were necessary to find the ideal solution. Rosenthal Suomi is presumably the most often awarded shape in plain-white worldwide and in 1992 it was accepted into the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
