Two vases designed by Tamara Aladin for Riihimaen Lasi Finland c1970s. Those vase are heavily cased, blue and violet in colour and comes complete with original label has sandblasted Riihmaen Lasi Oy Finland, lynx mark in a circle and the shape number 1365 etched on the base.
Origin: a little flea market in south britanny (France)
A litte bit of history
The Scandinavian glass manufacturers of the post 1950 period are famous for their use of innovative design and their stand against the increasing trend towards ‘throwawayism’. They employed revolutionary and forward thinking designers – some of whom took advantage of the brilliant reflective qualities of glass by producing thick-walled, organic forms with surface textures like ice, frost and bark – inspired by the landscape and now considered trademark Scandinavian design. With other Scandinavian glass designers at the same time producing obversely pared down designs with fine smooth surfaces, cool colours and simple shapes – the key to their designs being simplicity, practicality and functionality. Art and function being equally important.
The major glass designers of this period were prolific and incestuous – moving between the different manufacturers, working with each other and with the manufacturers themselves merging and taking each other over. Many of the designers didn’t restrict themselves artistically and successfully combined the different disciplines of poetry, geometry, graphic design, mathematics, art, sculpting, woodcarving, glassmaking, ceramics, cast iron work and even banknote design. They felt able to express their creativity freely and were generally given tremendous support by their employers resulting in their innovative artistry helping their companies to periods of glory and international recognition.
Iconic and retro/vintage glass manufacturers like Riihimaki, Riihimaen Lasi Oy, Iittala and Nuutajarvi (Finland) featured artwork designed by artists like Helena, Tynell, Nanny Still, Tamara Aladin, Verner Panton, Otto Brauer, Per Lutken, Jacob Bang, Michael Bang, Piet Hein, Tapio Wirkkala, Timo Sarpaneva, Kaj Franck, Sven Palmqvist, Vicke Lindstrand, Nils Landberg, Erik Hogland, Paul Kedelv and Erkitapio Siiroinen. Many of them are today exposed in the Finnish Glass Museum.
This museum presents the history of glass dating back over 4,000 years and the 300-year history of Finland’s glass industry. The collections consist mostly of Finnish household, design and art glass from the 18th-21th centuries.
Want to know more? visit the Finnish Glass Museum in Riihimaki.
