Rare collected art glass and silver by Tapio Wirkkala at the Finnish Glass Museum

Treasures from a private collection: TAPIO WIRKKALA
- A Poet in Glass and Silver
Collection Kakkonen

17/5-31/12


Long awaited by collectors, this exhibition of art glass and work in silver will open at the Finnish Glass Museum.

The Finnish Glass Museum is a place specific to Academician Tapio Wirkkala, who designed the renovation and permanent exhibition of the museum, which opened to the public at the beginning of the 1980s. The museum building was originally built in 1914 as a milled peat factory for the Paloheimo company and served for many years as a glassworks facility.

Tapio Wirkkala – A Poet in Glass and Silver is an exhibition based on the private collection of Kyösti Kakkonen, who now gives the public the opportunity to see many truly rare works of art glass and silver objects designed by Tapio Wirkkala. Most of the pieces on show were made at the Iittala glassworks or the Kultakeskus company.

Appearing in connection with the exhibition, Tapio Wirkkala – lasin ja hopean runoilija – A Poet in Glass and Silver is a richly illustrated book of 400 pages comprehensively describing Tapio Wirkkala’s work in silver and art glass.


Tapio Wirkkala’s Art Glass / Collection Kakkonen

The objects are from the Collection Kakkonen with the exception of a few items from the Finnish Glass Museum's collection, in connection with which the museum's catalogue number is given. The order of the objects is chronological in accordance with the year when they were designed. In cases where the date of the design cannot be ascertained, the correct chronological order has been sought by other means.

The Iittala glassworks was established in Kalvola in 1881. It was bought in 1917 by the A. Ahlström company, which already owned the considerably larger Karhula glassworks. In the 1930s it was decided to divide the respective operations of Karhula and Iittala. Karhula was to become a fully automated bottle-making plant, while hand-crafted production would be concentrated at Iittala. This plan was not realized until after the Second World War in the late 1940s.
In 1946, the Iittala glassworks held a design competition, in which first prize went to Tapio Wirkkala. At the time, Karhula was still a considerably better known glassmaking facility than Iittala and until the beginning of the1960s Iittala's advertising still had to use the combined name of Karhula-Iittala. With regard to art glass and blown utility glassware, and from 1954 onwards all utility glass, the Iittala glassworks is understood to be the manufacturer. In 1988 Iittala and the Nuutajärvi glassworks became part of the same corporation. Iittala has gone on to become a brand-name under which other products than glass alone are sold. Iittala is currently owned by the Fiskars Corporation.

Tapio Wirkkala’s Silver Objects / Collection Kakkonen
The objects are from the Collection Kakkonen.

These silver objects were made almost without exception by the Kultakeskus company of Hämeenlinna. The Suomen Kultaseppien Keskus (Finnish Goldsmiths’ Centre) company was founded in Hämeenlinna in 1918. Its shares were soon acquired by the N. Westerback firm of Helsinki, established in 1897. In 1962 the company was renamed Hopeakeskus (The Silver Centre) and in 1975 it changed its name to Kultakeskus (The Gold Centre). In 1995, Kultakeskus acquired the Auran Kultaseppä company, founded in 1913. Tapio Wirkkala’s first objects were made at the N. Westerback firm’s factory in Helsinki, and all the jewellery designed by him was made there until 1975.

While some of the items were produced in series, most of them were beaten by hand. The pieces were made in series by pressing from sheet silver. Except for the cutlery, the serial products were also finished by hand. The hand-crafted objects belonged to the Kultakeskus company’s product range – and for the most part they are still included in it – but they were made only to order. The pieces hallmarked with the year 2013 are in the present product catalogue. Except for the Tapio cutlery and the Trumpetti candlesticks, the items are made to order.

Silver objects have always been hallmarked and the year after the name of the manufacturer is the year of production. A few pieces that were apparently directly exported are not marked, except for the Sterling Silver stamp indicating silver content. Some models were also made of alpaca silver.

Several types of wood were suggested for the wooden parts in the designs. The species listed in the catalogues were jacaranda, walnut and teak, and apparently all of them were used.

Some models remained in production for decades. Of the product numbers, the first TW number is that of the drawing. Not all the drawings are dated.
President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö is the official patron of the exhibition.

The Finnish Glass Museum
Tehtaankatu 23
FI-11910 Riihimäki
+358 (0)19 758 4108
glass.museum@riihimaki.fi
www.finnishglassmuseum.fi