Alvar Aalto Vase Model 9748, Iittala 1956, Clear Glass Blown into Wooden Mold

Alvar Aalto entered and won a competition held at the Karhula-Iittala glass factory that was organized for the 1937 Paris World Fair. The year was 1936 and Aalto´s entry was called `Eskimoerindens skinnbuxa` or `Eskimo Woman`s Leather Trousers` . The entry comprised of a number of different free-formed vases and bowls that came in different shapes and sizes. This marked the beginning of a succesful breakthrough for Alvar Aalto in addition to his other accomplishments as a world famous architect.

The early vases by Aalto are extremely sought after collectible´s gems that fetch incredible prices every now and then in auctions worldwide. We have seen them in a number of different colors, mainly clear glass, green, brown,and blue. This bowl is fully signed Alvar Aalto Iittala-56 and is in absolutely incredible condition.

Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) is a world famous architect and designer. He was well known for designing his own line of furniture and lighting for the numerous buildings that he designed worldwide. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles, glassware, sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, seeing painting and sculpture as branches of a tree that stem from architecture.

Aalto's career from the 1920s-1970s is reflected in the styles of his work, ranging from Classicism to Modernism and to an organic style from the 1940s onwards. Aalto and his wife Aino were famous for not only designing the buildings, but the interior surfaces, furniture, lamps and even the glassware for those buildings. Aalto's furniture designs are Scandinavian Modernism at its best, especially his technical innovations on the bent plywood furniture, which in turn had a great impact on Mid-Century Modernist furniture.

Aalto's works are highly sought after and some fetch record prices in auctions and the design world. Of course his works are also widely collected and can be found in numerous private collections and famous museums.