The Aalto Vase, also known as the Savoy Vase, is a piece of

glassware upTypical drinkware The list of glassware includes drinking vessels (drinkware) and tableware used to set a table for eating a meal, general glass items such as vases, and glasses used in the catering industry. It does not include laboratory glass ...

created by

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

and his wife Aino that has become an internationally known iconic piece of Finnish design. It became known as the Savoy Vase because it was one of a range of custom furnishings and fixtures created by Alvar and Aino Aalto for the luxury Savoy restaurant in Helsinki that opened in 1937. The vase was also designed as an entry in a design competition for the Ahlström-owned Karhula-

Iittala Iittala, founded as a glassworks in 1881, is a Finnish design brand specialising in design objects, tableware and cookware. Iittala's official i-logo was designed by Timo Sarpaneva in 1956. Iittala has strong design roots in glasswares and art gl ...

glassworks factory in 1936. The design was inspired by the dress of a

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woman. Called ''Eskimåkvinnans skinnbyxa'' (the

Eskimo Eskimo () is an exonym used to refer to two closely related Indigenous peoples: the Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Greenlandic Inuit, and the Canadian Inuit) and the Yupik peoples, Yupik (or Siberian Yupik, Yuit) of eastern Si ...

woman's leather breech), the design consisted of a series of crayon drawings on cardboard and scratch paper. Aalto created initial prototypes by blowing glass in the middle of a composition of wooden sticks stuck into the ground, letting the molten glass swell on only some sides and creating a wavy outline. The initial manufacture of the vase was not without problems and the original idea of using molds made of thin steel sheets forced together to form closed sinuous shapes had to be abandoned. The vase was originally manufactured by the glassworks factory using a wood mold which was slowly burned away. This vase was later displayed for the

1937 World's Fair This is a list of international and colonial world's fairs, as well as a list of national exhibitions, a comprehensive chronological list of world's fairs (with notable permanent buildings built). 1790s * 1791 – Prague, Bohemia, Habsburg mon ...

in Paris and the original height of the Savoy vase was . Aalto never made money with the vase, because the design belonged to the factory for which the design competition entry was produced. The vase has been manufactured in nearly a full spectrum of colours. The simplicity of the vase continues to be popular in the 21st century. Smaller versions of the vase, just as Aalto designed them with the seams visible and a slight curve at the base, are still produced by glasspressing at the

glass factory in Iittala, Finland. Larger versions are made using Aalto's design, but without seams. In recent times the vase has achieved iconic status, inspiring adaptations and appropriations by contemporary designers including Jan Ctvrtnik, and Tobi Wong.

References

Further reading * ''Alvar Aalto: The Complete Catalogue of Architecture, Design and Art.'' Göran Schildt. New York: Rizzoli International, 1994.

External links

How the Aalto Vase is Made

Alvar Aalto designs to buy
{{Authority control (arts) Finnish design Glass works of art Fiskars Alvar Aalto Products introduced in 1936 1936 in art Individual vases