HISTORY:
These ceramic based coasters were prolifically produced in the 1960's for the tourist/souvenir trade by local Greek businesses - a 'take home' momento if you like
The base material is a bright White ceramic, with each coaster featuring a different aspect of ancient Greece. The artwork outline appears to have been 'applied' and is Black. The artist has then hand coloured various parts of the artwork and in most cases (but not all) applied an overall Royal Blue background colouring. Each coaster has then been oven glazed leaving the artwork with a high gloss finish on the top surface.
The underside of the coaster is simply a disc of white light card, glued to the ceramic.
Interesting coasters from the perspective of ancient Greek mythology, produced with some artistic endeavour.
The coaster holder is nothing to write home about, just a moulded high impact plastic.
Nowhere is there any branding or signatures on the coasters or the holder and when we obtained these we did try and find out where they could have been made but didn't come up with any useful information - anonymous business!
While we were looking around for background information relating to these coasters and taking a look at other Greek mythology ceramic coasters similar to these, some other coasters offered online did have small stick-on labels on the underside but we seriously dispute those sellers proclaiming they were made by Niarchos Hellas (for example) - the sticker is really only saying something akin to "Made in Greece"! Not the artist or company name ...
Many ceramic coasters offered online had the text Niarchos Hellas printed on the stick-on label.
Hellas is a modern term used to describe the country Greece as a whole, it is not a family name nor is it an area of Greece. The word actually has its origins in the mythological figure of Hellen, the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha
So the word Hellas doesn't provide any clues about the origins of the coaster
Niarchos is a very famous name in Greece, being that of the billionaire shipping magnate, Stavros Niarchos who passed away in the late 1990's
I seriously doubt that Mr Niarchos had the time to sit down and hand painted many different ceramic items although I guess it is possible someone in this family did or that he owned a company producing these ceramic coasters but that still doesn't identify the person who hand decorated the coaster. Mr Niarchos funded many cultural buildings but I cannot find any geographic area in Greece called Niarchos.
So, from our research we believe these coasters are simply "anon" but I can tell you that at one time their production was prolific, judging by the multitude of these that still remain available online.
UNIDENTIFIED MANUFACTURER - Ceramic Coaster Set (6)
Made in Greece
Circa 1960's ~ 1970's
Six bright White based ceramic coasters, decorated with ancient Greek mythology figurines or scenes - each coaster design is unique
Hand colouring has been used inside the artwork outline and the vivid Royal Blue background which dominates most of the coasters.
Underside of the coaster is a simple White card disc
Comes with a simple but functional Brown high impact plastic holder
NO markings on the coasters or the holder at all - it is not known who produced these.
DIMENSIONS (each coaster)
89mm diameter x 5.25mm thick
WEIGHT (each coaster)
55g
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
NO ceramic cracking
NO ceramic chips
NO crazing to the ceramic glazing
No damage to the artwork on each coaster
No discolouration to the infill colouring
No marks, stains etc to the White underside card disc on each coaster
SPECIAL NOTE:
While particularly suitable for a hot cup of coffee, DO NOT be tempted to wash these in the kitchen sink or worst still, a dishwasher! The White paper disc on the rear will be destroyed ... a simple wipe with a damp, clean cloth will look after these fine.
Now that this description is complete, I have now placed these coasters into a sealed clear plastic pack so that their present condition (as photographed) is maintained.
