The Aalto vase, designed by Alvar Aalto, was first exhibited at the 1937 Paris World Exhibition. It has since become a Finnish design icon, and features in many collections worldwide. The free-form, undulating shapes of the objects in the Aalto collection were drawn from the shoreline of Finland and its lakes, and represents the beauty of the Finnish landscape. Alvar Aalto’s philosophy was that users should be free to decide for themselves how each piece should be used – as a sculptural piece, a bowl, a vase or a as a collecting vessel for bits and bobs. All Aalto vases are mouth blown at iittala’s workshop in Finland. Blowing one vase takes seven glassblowers working together seamlessly, and each piece is a tribute to glassblowing, craftmanship and iitala's colour expertise.
The Aalto’s are also known as the “Savoy” because in 1937 Alavar Aalo designed the interior for Savoy Restaurant in Helsinki, and included a small Aalto vase for each table. This design soon became the most popular model and is sometimes known today as the “Savoy”. In the history of the Finnish Art Industry, Aalto’s Savoy vase, or Aalto vase, represents a new direction in design. Today it is one of the internationally best-known pieces of Finnish Design, and is highly collectable.
