A highly valuable Moomin mug was recently sold on the online auction website Huuto.net. The opening bid of 800 euros set by the seller, a resident of Oulu, quickly rose to 1820 euros after rounds of serious bidding.
The Christmas themed mug was one of a limited edition set commissioned in 2004 by Fazer Café of Helsinki. Only 400 of the mugs were manufactured. The design was inspired by a Fazer advertisement illustration composed by Tove Jansson.
“The mug sold on Huuto.net was one of a limited edition set, and the only Moomin mug ever manufactured by Arabia. The mugs were never on sale to the public”, says Nina Colliander, a publicist at the Finnish ceramics manufacturer.
According to Colliander, the rarest Moomin mugs are the ones that have been manufactured in small numbers such as the mugs known as Millenium, Night Sailing, Hooray! and Moomintroll daydreaming.