Tag: Scandinavian glass

Riihimaen collection

"Riihimäen collection" blog post banner

collection of green vintage Riihimaen glass vases

We often speak of living with things for a while before they reach our shop – and this is a case in point. We steadily added glass vases to the windowsill on our landing over recent years, building up quite a collection. We’ve enjoyed looking at them each time we passed – the natural light enhancing the gorgeous olive green colourway & highlighting the different shapes… but now it’s time to let them go. Here they are pictured sitting atop a 1960s teak bookcase in our Picture House Antiques space – they look great grouped together.

detail of collection of green vintage Riihimaen glass vases

They’re all produced by Finnish glass company Riihimäki in the 1960s. For the sake of accuracy, we should attribute them to Riihimäen Lasi Oy as the company was renamed in the late 1930s, but they’re still often referred to as Riihimäki vases. The company had some very notable designers such as Aimo Okkolin, Timo Sarpaneva, Helena Tynell, Nanny Still, Tamara Aladin and Erkkitapio Siiroinen.

We’ve got them priced up between £15 & £35… and of course we’ve started a new windowsill collection!!

P is for… Per Lütken

'P is for... Per Lütken' blog post banner

vintage Per Lütken thule vase for Holmegaard

We’ve just realised that it’s been almost a year since our last Alphabet blog post!! Where does time go?

Anyway, we’ll get back on our metaphorical alphabet bike and resume where we left off. The last post in this series was O is for… Owl. So today it’s P – and ‘P’ is for… Per. Per Lütken to be precise.

green glass bowl designed by Per Lütken for Holmegaardphoto credit: 20th Century Forum

Per Lütken is one of the great names in Scandinavian glass. He assumed the role of art director & chief designer at Holmegaard Glasværk in 1946.

collection of vintage 'Duckling' vases designed by Per Lütken for Holmegaard

photo credit: Retropolitan

He introduced lovely soft colours and free flowing organic forms to the company’s output in the 1950s – ‘Provence’ bowls & ‘Beak’ vases being classic pieces from this period. The iconic ‘Aristocrat’ decanter is also much sought after by mid century modern fans. The 1960s saw experimentation with clear & coloured glass to achieve eye-catching, swirling designs. Towards the end of the decade he introduced his innovative ‘Lava’ glassware which retained impurities to give an earthy, rustic look. The 1970s saw Lütken produce one-off glass sculptures along with further mass produced ranges such as the Vintergaek series which incorporated opaline glass into a clear glass body. He continued to design, develop, guide, influence & innovate at Holmegaard until his death in the 1990s.

Collection of 'Flamingo' vases designed by Per Lütken for Holmegaardphoto credit: austrohungaro, Collectors Weekly

There are some must-visit sites on the net for reference guides to Scandinavian glass – 20th Century Glass, 20th Century Forum and Collectors Weekly.

collection of colourful 'Carnaby' vases designed by Per Lütken for Holmegaard
photo credit: austrohungaro, Collectors Weekly

Here’s a selection of books on Scandinavian art glass that we recommend:

We often have plenty of Scandinavian art glass available in our shop. We have one lovely example of Per Lütken’s work currently in stock. It’s the small, icy blue vase in our main picture. It has the great man’s signature etched to the base and the date year of 1958.