1956 SIGNED Tapio Wirkkala Combed Crystal Art Objects by Littala (4 Pieces)

These etched SIGNED Tapio Wirkkala combed cut crystal grouping of bowls and cup are styled after large leaves which was one of Wirkkala’s favorite motifs to use in his art glass. One flat bowl is higher than the other slightly and all have texture from the combed cut technique. Heavy and important collection.

Dimensions: Flat bowls are 6 inches wide 7.25 long and 1.25 high, small canoe style dish is 6.5 inches long 3 inches wide, 2.25 inches high, small cup is 3.25 inches diameter and 2.25 inches tall.

BIOGRAPHY: 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.