The Glass Vase that Started It All

With nearly 70 years passing since Alvar Aaltos glass vase took best glasswork design, his legacy lives on today as premier Scandinavian glassmaker, iittala, re-releases the vase in colors for a new generation to fall in love with.

(PRWEB) September 2, 2005 -- With nearly 70 years passing since Alvar Aaltos glass vase took best glasswork design, his legacy lives on today as premier Scandinavian glassmaker, iittala, re-releases the vase in colors for a new generation to fall in love with.

The competition was organized by Finland's prominent glassworks, Karhula-iittala, for the purpose of finding designs suitable for display at the Worlds Fair in Paris the following year. Aalto had stated that the vases design was inspired by the dress of an Eskimo woman, which he called Eskim?erindens skinnbux. Loosely translated, it means the Eskimo womans leather pants."

But what started as a series of crayon drawings on scratch paper and cardboard would not only go on to win the competition and be prominently displayed at the 1937 Worlds Fair, but they were later selected by the Savoy restaurant in Helsinki. The most popular of which would later come to be known as the Savoy vase.

The vase was heralded by Scandinavian modernists for its organic feel and undulating forms. Many attributed the vases shape to Finlands natural features and bodies of water. It should also be noted that aalto is the Finnish word for wave". Regardless of its artistic interpretation, the Aalto vase has continued to fascinate artists and designers to this day.

Recent excitement has been stirred by iittala, Scandinavias quintessential glassmaker, re-releasing the decorative vase in two classic colors. The featured colors represent a historical look back at the vases past. Classic Brown was the favored shade of the Savoy restaurant, whereas 1937 Green captures the contemporary color style of the year of the vases release.

While iittalas glassware is known well throughout all of Europe, many in the US are still unfamiliar with the company and their devotion to quality, style, and function. Aalto.com (http://aalto.com/aalto-glass-vases.html), a US-based retailer of Alvar Aalto designed furniture and glassware, features the full line of Aalto designer vases, including the Savoy and flower vases from iittala.

For something as unique and original as Aaltos modern vase, its little wonder as to why it remains, to this day, a celebrated figure of modern design. And given its popularity, its safe to say that it will remain there for a long time to come.

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