Along with architect Alvar Aalto, the designer Tapio Wirkkala was Finland’s leading contributor to the Scandinavian interpretation of modernism in the mid-20th century. Prolific and innovative, Wirkkala excelled in a wide range of fields, including glass, furniture, porcelain, jewelry and tableware. The hallmark of his talent was an ability to impart a craft aesthetic based on natural forms — leaves, ice, bubbles, birds — to industrially produced designs.
A native of Helsinki, Wirkkala studied at the national School of Applied Arts and took up a career in graphic design. After serving in the Finnish army during World War II, he joined the glassmaking firm Iittala, an association that would continue to the end of his life. Wirkkala learned every aspect of glassmaking in keeping with his belief that an artist-designer should be involved in all stages of production. His best-known works for Iittala are vases and drinking vessels that resemble either carved ice or icicles. In 1956, Wirkkala began a long relationship with the porcelain maker Rosenthal, for whom he designed elegant table pieces, such as the Finlandia coffee service and the biomorphic Pollo vases.
House Beautiful magazine declared Wirkkala’s Leaf platter the “most beautiful object” of 1951. (The acclaim led to his brief employment stint with industrial designer Raymond Loewy in New York.) That platter was one of the first designs Wirkkala made using laminated sheets of plywood sanded to a smooth surface that resembles an abstract leaf. It would go on to become a motif in many Wirkkala furniture pieces — most notably in inlaid coffee tables for Asko — and in a sense these are the works most emblematic of his personal aesthetic.
Wirkkala was a traditionalist in many ways, but he had a modernist’s practical approach, incorporating his leaf-like spirals into simple, functional objects. That is the core attraction of Wirkkala’s designs: They stand out with a striking, sculptural energy yet blend in as part of a warm and comfortable decor.
Find vintage Tapio Wirkkala furniture on 1stDibs.
Carl-Harry Stalhane / SOQ VASE / Rorstrand / 1950s
By Rörstrand, Carl-Harry Stålhane
Located in Shibuya-Ku, JP
A work by Carl-Harry Stalhåne, who led Rorstrand's golden age in the 1950s alongside Gunnar Nylund and worked as a designer and art director. After his first exhibition in 1948, he s...
Stoneware
Wilhelm Kåge / SURREA VASE / Gustavsberg / 1950s
By Gustavsberg, Wilhelm Kage
Located in Shibuya-Ku, JP
Wilhelm Kage studied painting at art school and worked as a poster artist after graduation. As art director of Gustavsberg from 1917, he laid the foundations for modern design in Swe...
Stoneware
Carl-Harry Stalhane / SDA FLOOR VASE / Rorstrand / 1950s
By Rörstrand, Carl-Harry Stålhane
Located in Shibuya-Ku, JP
A work by Carl-Harry Stalhåne, who led Rorstrand's golden age in the 1950s alongside Gunnar Nylund and worked as a designer and art director. After his first exhibition in 1948, he s...
Stoneware
Kaj Franck / VASE KF292 / Nuutajärvi
By Nuutajärvi Notsjõ, Kaj Franck
Located in Shibuya-Ku, JP
KF292 was designed between 1961 and 1962, and manufactured between 1963 and 1964. Filigree glass, which was produced at Nuutajarvi in the late 1850s, was modelled on the techniques ...
Art Glass, Blown Glass
Carl-Harry Stalhane / SOC VASE / Rorstrand / 1950s
By Rörstrand, Carl-Harry Stålhane
Located in Shibuya-Ku, JP
A work by Carl-Harry Stalhåne, who led Rorstrand's golden age in the 1950s alongside Gunnar Nylund and worked as a designer and art director. After his first exhibition in 1948, he s...
Stoneware
Carl-Harry Stalhane / SOY VASE / Rorstrand / 1950s
By Carl-Harry Stålhane, Rörstrand
Located in Shibuya-Ku, JP
A work by Carl-Harry Stalhåne, who led Rorstrand's golden age in the 1950s alongside Gunnar Nylund and worked as a designer and art director. After his first exhibition in 1948, he s...
Stoneware
Vase Designed by Tapio Wirkkala, Finland, 1957
By Tapio Wirkkala
Located in Stockholm, SE
Vase designed by Tapio Wirkkala, Sweden, 1957. Sterling silver. Dimensions: H: 24 cm/ 9 3/8" W: 9 cm/ 3 1/2" D: 4 cm/ 1 1/2" Tapio Wirkkala (1915-1985) can be described as one of the icons of Finnish design and a symbol of the international success of post-war Finnish design. Tapio Wirkkala studied sculpture at the Helsinki Central School of Industrial Design from 1933 until 1936, but he was also a self-studied artist in many areas, including glass design. His success as a glass artist began in 1946 when he designed one of his most famous works, the Kantarelli vase, for Iittala. Wirkkala gained worldwide success in 1951 at the Milan Triennial, where he received three Grand Prix awards: for the exhibition architecture, glass design and wooden sculptures. Tapio Wirkkala felt a deep relationship with nature and his absolute favourite spot was located in Finland's deepest forests. From the beautiful landscape, Tapio Wirkkala could find inspiration for his works, often characterised by organic shapes. Leaves, birds, ice and water are recurring themes in his design. Tapio Wirkkala was also a furniture designer and a sculptor. He started his career as a sculptor in the 1930s but abandoned the traditional sculpture in the post-war years – in the early 1950s, alongside with other works, he started to develop an entirely new relationship with sculpture and a new technique to be used. The result was a series of unique plywood sculptures which combined form and movement in the vibrant, densely lineated surface of plywood. Wirkkala’s sculptures represented exceptional abstractism and gave Finnish sculpture...
Sterling Silver
Silver. Vase by Tapio Wirkkala, Kultakeskus OY, Hämeenlinna, Finland, 1973
By Tapio Wirkkala
Located in Stockholm, SE
This vase In silver was designed by the Finnish master Tapio Wirkkala, whose artistic expression consistently drew inspiration from nature. He himself described how he discovered for...
Sterling Silver
Large Venini Vase 'Coreano', Designed by Tapio Wirkkala in 1966
By Tapio Wirkkala, Venini
Located in Berghuelen, DE
Large Venini Vase 'Coreano', Designed by Tapio Wirkkala in 1966 A blue and green a fasce a spirale vase from the Coreani series. Designed in 1966 by Tapio Wirkkala for Venini. Produ...
Art Glass, Murano Glass
Vase Designed by Carl-Harry Stålhane for Rörstrand, Sweden, 1957
By Carl-Harry Stålhane
Located in Stockholm, SE
Vase designed by Carl-Harry Stålhane for Rörstrand, Sweden, 1957. Stoneware. Signed. H: 52.5 cm D: 9 cm.
Stoneware
A vase by Svenkst Tenn
By Svenskt Tenn
Located in Long Island City, NY
A vintage vase produced by Svenkst Tenn. Sweden Circa 1940s. Pewter and brass. Marked " Modern Metallkunst Svenkst Tenn".
Pewter
Nils Landberg, Sommerso Vase, Glass, Sweden, 1950s
By Nils Landberg, Orrefors
Located in High Point, NC
A blown glass Sommerso vase designed by Nils Landberg and produced by Orrefors, Sweden, 1950s
Blown Glass
