Aimo Okkolin, Riihimäen Lasi - Nimipäivä and Stromboli vases.

Finnish manual glass industry has gone in the same direction as the Swedish. Of those in the 1950s and '60s so successful handicraft industries are today very little remaining. I think one of the few that remains in Finland is Ittala. Recently, the Ittala group closed down the mill in Notsjö and moved all production from there to Ittala. At the same time they fired a large numbers of employees. I also believe that a large part of Ittalas glass is made abroad and by machine.

Another glasswork that in the 1950s - and '60s focused on artistic design was Riihimäen Lasi, about 10 mil north of Helsinki. But the hand-made glass production was closed down there in the mid -1970s. One of Riihimäens designers that I personally feel good about is Aimo Okkolin , and I have some vases designed by him in the collection.

No. 1, 2 and 4 are from the series Nimipäivä (name day), and the first pieces in the series was designed in 1959. Vase No. 3 is from Stromboli series, and the year of the design is 1963 onwards. The height of the vases are 20 - 24 cm. This retro design of glass is very popular today, not only in collecting circles but also among younger people who decorate their homes with glass from the 1950s - 60s and 70s. And my guess is that people spend quite much money on this type of retro glass today. One also sees that today's designers of glass attracts a little to retro-style in their forms.