iittala Toikka Summer Grouse

About the Designer
Oiva Toikka Finland

Professor Oiva Toikka is one of the greatest names in Finnish glass. His imaginative, rich and bold glass art deviates from the streamlined aesthetic of Nordic design. He has worked in the performing arts for as long as he has in glass. The Birds collection is Toikka's best-known work. He has enjoyed an international career and received numerous awards, among them Lunning Prize, Pro Finlandia Medal, World Glass Now 85 Award, Kaj Franck Design Prize and the Prince Eugen Medal. The Kastehelmi range of glassware that Toikka originally designed in 1964 was also the outcome of a technical challenge. To celebrate Toikka's 50th, Iittala reintroduced a selection of the most popular pieces in the range in year 2010. The idea of using droplets of glass as decoration came to Toikka when he was thinking of ways of covering the joint marks left on the surface of pressed glass pieces by the production process.

Sand, soda, lime and fire. In the heart of the hot shop, in a fiery kiln, elements meld to create the red-hot glass mass. A skilled hand grabs a pipe, lifts a gather of glass out of the oven, and starts working it: calmly, phase by phase. Twirl, lift, blow - a small miracle takes place: the unique idea of an artist appears in the mass. At the iittala glass factory in Nuuttajarvi, a millennia-old tradition of glassmaking is strongly alive. This is the birthplace of iittala's jewels - the glass birds.

Each bird is mouth-blown, and three to five craftsmen work on each bird as it is being produced resulting in each bird being one of a kind. The birds are constructed entirely of glass; their vivid colors come from the glass, not from paint. Oiva Toikka explores the opportunities offered by glass, exploiting the renowned iittala skill with color, and the transparency and opacity of glass. There is great virtuosity in the way filigree and filigree tape have been used to depict the bird's plumage. In his birds, Oiva Toikka uses glass like a painter uses his palette.


Features:

• Individually handmade
• Overall dimensions: 4.4" H x 6" W
• Please Note: Due to the nature of hand-blown glass, actual color may vary slightly from the colors pictured