Pauper Coin Collector is a ceramic piggy-bank inspired by an old Finnish tradition of placing a wooden statue of a pauper outside a church to collect money for the poor.‎ For COMPANY the Pauper is reminiscent of Kaamos, or polar night, the darkest, coldest time of the year when the vulnerable are most in need.‎ The Pauper Coin Collector belongs to a family of seven handmade ceramic objects created by COMPANY for Artek’s FIN/JPN Friendship Collection.‎What gifts did the Finnish delegation bring to Japan in 1919 to inaugurate Finnish-Japanese diplomatic relations? With this question in mind, Finnish-Korean design-duo COMPANY created their contribution to the FIN/JPN Friendship Collection.‎ The family of six ceramic objects are both decorative and functional; each celebrates a seasonal ritual belonging to the Finnish calendar.‎ Expressive and of disarming naiveté, the family of objects evokes the animist, pagan pasts of Finland.‎ They are hand-made by Artek’s ceramic partner in Portugal, based on a close collaborative development process with COMPANY founders Aamu Song and Johan Olin.‎