Alvar Aalto Vase 3031, Iittala

About the Item

Alvar Aalto entered and won a competition held at the Karhula-Iittala glass factory that was organized for the 1937 Paris World Fair. The year was 1936 and Aalto´s entry was called `Eskimoerindens skinnbuxa` or `Eskimo Woman`s Leather Trousers` . The entry comprised of a number of different free-formed vases and bowls that came in different shapes and sizes. The most famous of Aalto´s glass designs is exactly this so called `Savoy` vase, as it was part of the Savoy restaurant`s original interior design that was done by the Aalto couple. Winning the competition marked the beginning of a succesful breakthrough for Alvar Aalto in addition to his other accomplishments as a world famous architect. The early vases by Aalto are extremely sought after collectible´s gems that fetch incredible prices every now and then in auctions worldwide. We have seen them in a number of different colors, mainly clear glass, green, brown,and blue. This bowl is fully signed Alvar Aalto and is in good condition.

Creator:

Iittala (Manufacturer),Alvar Aalto (Designer)

Dimensions:

Height: 11.82 in (30 cm)Diameter: 12.21 in (31 cm)

Style:

Scandinavian Modern (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Blown Glass

Place of Origin:

Finland

Period:

1950-1959

Date of Manufacture:

1950s

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use. The overall impresion is good. There is a tiny ship on the top of the rim of the vase, refer to picture please. Very very insignificant to the beauty of this vase, and could hardly be noticed if not mentioned here.

Seller Location:

Helsinki, FI

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU6346236761592

Shop All Alvar Aalto

Alvar Aalto

An architect and designer, Alvar Aalto deserves an immense share of the credit for bringing Scandinavian modernism to a prominent place in the global arena. In both his buildings and in his vintage furniture — which ranges from chairs, tables and lighting to table- and glassware — Aalto’s sensitivity to the natural world and to organic forms and materials tempered the hardness of rationalist design.

Relatively few Aalto buildings exist outside Finland. (Just four exist in the United States, and only one — the sinuous 1945 Baker House dormitory at M.I.T. — is easily visited.) International attention came to Aalto, whose surname translates to English as “wave,” primarily through his furnishings.

Instead of the tubular metal framing favored by the Bauhaus designers and Le Corbusier, Aalto insisted on wood. His aesthetic is best represented by the Paimio armchair, developed in 1930 as part of his overall design of a Finnish tuberculosis sanatorium. Comfortable, yet light enough to be easily moved by patients, the chair’s frame is composed of two laminated birch loops; the seat and back are formed from a single sheet of plywood that scrolls under at the headrest and beneath the knees, creating a sort of pillow effect. Aalto’s use of plywood had enormous influence on Charles and Ray Eames, Arne Jacobsen, Marcel Breuer and others who later came to the material.

Concerned with keeping up standards of quality in the production of his designs, Aalto formed the still-extant company Artek in 1935, along with his wife, Aino Aalto, whose glass designs were made by the firm. In the latter medium, in 1936 the Aaltos together created the iconic, undulating Savoy vase, so-called for the luxe Helsinki restaurant for which the piece was designed.

Artek also produced Aalto pendants and other lighting designs, many of which — such as the Angel’s Wing floor lamp and the Beehive pendant — incorporate a signature Aalto detail: shades made of concentric enameled-metal rings graduated down in diameter. The effect of the technique is essential Alvar Aalto: at once precise, simple, and somehow poetic.

Find a collection of vintage Alvar Aalto stools, vases, dining tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.