Iittala , founded as a glassworks in 1881, is a Finnish design brand specialising in design objects, tableware and cookware .
100-800: Iittala has strong design roots in glasswares and art glass which can be seen in the early designs of Aino Aalto glasses designed by Aino Aalto in 1932; Alvar Aalto ’s Savoy Vase ( Aalto Vase ) from 1936; Oiva Toikka ’s Birds by Toikka glass birds collection that has been made since 1962, his glassware set Kastehelmi from 1964 and Tapio Wirkkala ’s glasses Tapio from 1952. and Ultima Thule from 1968. Iittala has expanded from glass to other materials, such as ceramics and metal while keeping with their key philosophy of progressive elegant and timeless design, such as Kaj Franck ’s Teema ceramic tableware from 1952 and Timo Sarpaneva 's cast iron pot Sarpaneva from 1960. Iittala focuses on timeless design which can be seen not only in older creations but in
200-577: A "vicious and reactionary fascist clique". Field Marshal Mannerheim and Väinö Tanner , the leader of the Finnish Social Democratic Party , were targeted for particular scorn. When Stalin gained absolute power through the Great Purge of 1938, the Soviets changed their foreign policy toward Finland and began to pursue the reconquest of the provinces of Tsarist Russia that had been lost during
300-557: A Silver Medal. In 1954 another Grand Prix was awarded to Wirkkala. This was followed by the Milan Triennale awarding Timo Sarpaneva a Grand Prix in 1957. In 1952 Kaj Franck, who was also the artistic director of Arabia, designed the Kilta series for Arabia. The design of this series, which was renamed into Teema in 1981 has all the core ideas and values of Iittala within it, incorporating high quality and multipurpose timeless design. Teema
400-657: A Soviet plan to annex Finland. Rather, the objective was to gain Finnish territory and to reinforce Soviet influence in the region. Another American historian Stephen Kotkin also shares the position that the Soviet Union did not aim for annexation. He points out the different treatment Finland was given, compared to the Baltics: unlike the pacts of mutual assistance that the Baltics were pressured into, resulting in their total Sovietization,
500-603: A celebratory piece of music from Dmitri Shostakovich , Suite on Finnish Themes , intended to be performed as the marching bands of the Red Army paraded through Helsinki. The Soviets were confident that the Western powers would not come to Finland's aid. Ivan Maisky, the Soviet ambassador to the UK, said: "Who would help? The Swedes? The British? The Americans? There's no way in hell. There will be
600-437: A design archiving system created by Erkki Vesanto in 1936, all designs are not too closely related to each other. With a few exceptions, until the 1920s Iittala's glassblowers, product models and designs still came from Sweden, Germany, Denmark and Belgium. Iittala's first in house designer was Alfred Gustafsson. Through an initiative by then deputy director Claës Norstedt in 1903 Alfred Gustafsson created his most famous works,
700-668: A fuss in the press, moral support, moaning and whining. But troops, aircraft, cannons, and machine guns – no." Hungarian historian István Ravasz wrote that the Soviet Central Committee had set out in 1939 that the former borders of the Tsarist Empire were to be restored, including Finland. American political scientist Dan Reiter stated that the Soviets "sought to impose a regime change " and thus "achieve absolute victory". He quoted Molotov, who had commented in November 1939 on
800-510: A loss of prestige after having made them public. However, the Soviet offer was eventually rejected with respect to the opinion of the public and Parliament. At the meeting on 9 November, Paasikivi announced to the attending Stalin and Molotov the Finnish refusal to accept even their reduced demands. The Soviets were visibly surprised. Finnish Foreign Minister Vaino Tanner later wrote that "the eyes of our opposite numbers opened wide". Stalin had asked "You don't even offer Ino?" This would become
900-404: A maximalist demand, ready to be traded down smaller. The Soviets instead had stressed the minimalist nature of their demands, and were incredulous over Finnish reluctance to agree. Finally, there was also Stalin's unwillingness or inability to accept that any territorial concessions on the part of Finland would have only been possible by a 4/5th majority in the Finnish parliament. He had mocked such
1000-542: A meeting with military historians that the Soviets had launched the Winter War to "correct mistakes" made in determining the border with Finland after 1917. Opinion on the scale of the initial Soviet invasion decision is divided. The puppet Finnish communist government and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact's secret protocol is used as proof that the Soviet Union had intended to conquer all of Finland. On 1 December 1939,
1100-547: A minor presence in national politics and never had more than 14 seats of the 200 in the Finnish Parliament . By the late 1930s, the export-oriented Finnish economy was growing and the nation's extreme political movements had diminished. After Soviet involvement in the Finnish Civil War in 1918, no formal peace treaty was signed. In 1918 and 1919, Finnish volunteers conducted two unsuccessful military incursions across
SECTION 10
#17328561315731200-663: A narrow-front assault right on the Karelian isthmus. Additionally, Shaposhnikov argued for a fuller build-up, extensive fire support and logistical preparations, a rational order of battle and the deployment of the army's best units. Zhdanov's military commander, Kirill Meretskov , reported, "The terrain of coming operations is split by lakes, rivers, swamps, and is almost entirely covered by forests.... The proper use of our forces will be difficult". These doubts were not reflected in Meretskov's troop deployments, and he publicly announced that
1300-595: A possible German invasion through Finland. He stated that "the strongest argument" against a Soviet intention of full conquest is that it did not happen in either 1939 or during the Continuation War in 1944 even though Stalin "could have done so with comparative ease". Bradley Lightbody wrote that the "entire Soviet aim had been to make the Soviet border more secure". In 2002, Russian historian A. Chubaryan stated that no documents had been found in Russian archives that support
1400-406: A reason. He claimed that Stalin had little hope for such a deal but would play for time for the ongoing mobilisation. He stated the objective as being to secure Finland from being used as a staging ground by means of regime change. Others argue against the idea of a complete Soviet conquest. American historian William R. Trotter asserted that Stalin's objective was to secure Leningrad's flank from
1500-431: A requirement, proposing that they count his and Molotov's votes, too. On 26 November 1939, an incident was reported near the Soviet village of Mainila , near the border with Finland. A Soviet border guard post had been shelled by an unknown party resulting, according to Soviet reports, in the deaths of four and injuries of nine border guards. Research conducted by several Finnish and Russian historians later concluded that
1600-576: A separate corporate identity until 1935, when the Iittalan Lasitehdas Osakeyhtiö was formed with the Karhula Company. From then on, products were produced under Karhula-Iittala. In 1932, Göran Hongell was hired by Karhula-Iittala and became the first designer hired for a Finnish glassworks. Hongell initiated collaboration between designers and glassblowers by bringing drawings to the glass workshop to ask about technical aspects of blowing
1700-514: A separate lamp glass factory was built in 1971. The new factory was used to produce lights for homes and public facilities. Industrial lights were first produced in 1975 for Ahlström's Varkaus paper mill. Sales of their products in Finland were also continuously under competition from the ever-growing import of foreign glassware, but Iittala enjoyed continued success until the mid-1970s oil crisis, when it had to cut back on its operations. In 1981, Iittala
1800-647: Is a general term for a vessel intended to contain beverages or liquid foods for drinking or consumption. The word cup comes from Middle English cuppe , from Old English , from Late Latin cuppa , drinking vessel, perhaps variant of Latin cupa , tub, cask. The first known use of the word cup is before the 12th century. Tumblers are flat-bottomed drinking glasses. Winter War [REDACTED] Finland [REDACTED] Soviet Union Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups Finland Iceland Norway The Winter War
1900-493: Is still in production and new colours and sizes are regularly designed by Heikki Orvola and Oiva Toikka making sure that the new pieces keep the spirit of Franck's design. Iittala set high standards for their products as Löflund recounts that Timo Sarpaneva's Orkidea of which only a few could be made in an hour sometimes had only one pass inspection and at times none at all were passed. The design and high quality of Iittala's products ensured Iittala receiving high praise throughout
2000-605: Is still made in Finland. Iittala's i-logo in a red circle, designed by Timo Sarpaneva in 1956, was replaced by a new logo in "fire yellow" in 2024. In April 1881, in the village of Iittalain in the southern province of Finland, the Swede Peter Magnus Abrahamson, after having left the Nuutajärvi glassworks, founded the Iittala Glasbruks Aktiebolag. Due to the lack of skilled glassblowers in Finland,
2100-650: The Aurora set of glasses for Iittala. With Fujiwo Ishimoto he designed the Illusia tableware for Arabia. Valto Kokko created his first extensive glassware set, Avec in 1973. His best known set Otso is from 1978 and since 1981 Otso is part of the collection of Modern Art in New York. Heikki Orvola's Kivi candleholders from 1988 are another design. The cookware Tools was created by Björn Dahlström in 1998 in collaboration with world class chefs. In 1998 Stefan Lindfors designed
SECTION 20
#17328561315732200-659: The East Karelian uprising in Russia in 1921, and Finnish communists in the Soviet Union continued to prepare for revenge and staged a cross-border raid into Finland, the Pork Mutiny , in 1922. In 1932, the Soviet–Finnish Non-Aggression Pact was signed between both countries, and it was reaffirmed for ten years in 1934. Foreign trade in Finland was booming, but less than 1% of it was with the Soviet Union. In 1934,
2300-495: The Gulf of Finland along the seaward approaches to Leningrad, but Finland refused. Negotiations continued throughout 1938 without results. The Finnish reception of Soviet entreaties was decidedly cool, as the violent collectivisation and purges in Stalin's Soviet Union resulted in a poor opinion of the country. Most of the Finnish communist elite in the Soviet Union had been executed during
2400-480: The Hanko Peninsula for 30 years and to permit the Soviets to establish a military base there. In exchange, the Soviet Union would cede Repola and Porajärvi from Eastern Karelia (2120 square miles), an area twice the size as that of the territory demanded from Finland (1000 square miles). The Soviet offer divided the Finnish government: Gustaf Mannerheim had argued for an agreement, being pessimistic of
2500-658: The Karelian Isthmus , on Kollaa in Ladoga Karelia and on Raate Road in Kainuu , but there were also battles in Salla and Petsamo in Lapland . Following the initial setbacks, the Soviets reduced their strategic objectives and put an end to the puppet Finnish communist government in late January 1940, informing the Finnish government that they were willing to negotiate peace. After
2600-613: The Kingdom of Sweden . From 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809, the Russian Empire waged the Finnish War against the Kingdom of Sweden, ostensibly to protect the Russian capital, Saint Petersburg . Eventually Russia conquered and annexed Finland, and converted it into an autonomous buffer state . The resulting Grand Duchy of Finland enjoyed wide autonomy within Russia until the end of
2700-633: The Leningrad Military District Kiril Meretskov initially ran the overall operation against the Finns. The command was passed on 9 December 1939 to the General Staff Supreme Command (later known as Stavka ), directly under Kliment Voroshilov (chairman), Nikolai Kuznetsov , Stalin and Boris Shaposhnikov. On 28 December, when Stalin asked for volunteers to take over military command, Semyon Timoshenko offered himself on
2800-567: The Red Army encouraged German Chancellor Adolf Hitler to believe that an attack on the Soviet Union would be successful and confirmed negative Western opinions of the Soviet military. After 15 months of Interim Peace , in June 1941, Germany commenced Operation Barbarossa , and the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviets began. Until the early 19th century, Finland was the eastern part of
2900-561: The Soviet Union , recognised the new Finnish government just three weeks after the declaration. Finland achieved full sovereignty in May 1918 after a four-month civil war in which the conservative Whites defeated the socialist Reds with the help of the Imperial German Army , pro-German Jägers , and some Swedish troops, in addition to the expulsion of Bolshevik troops. Finland joined
3000-637: The Spanish Civil War veterans General Pavel Rychagov from the Soviet Air Forces ; the tank expert General Dmitry Pavlov and Stalin's favourite general, Marshal Grigory Kulik , the chief of artillery. The other faction was led by Khalkhin Gol veterans General Georgy Zhukov of the Red Army and General Grigory Kravchenko of the Soviet Air Forces. Under this divided command structure, the lessons of
3100-514: The Treaty of Tartu , confirming the old border between the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland and Imperial Russia proper as the new Finnish–Soviet border. Finland also received Petsamo Province , with its ice-free harbour on the Arctic Ocean. Despite the signing of the treaty, relations between the two countries remained strained. The Finnish government allowed volunteers to cross the border to support
Iittala - Misplaced Pages Continue
3200-456: The 19th century, when Russia began attempts to assimilate Finland as part of a general policy to strengthen the central government and unify the Empire by Russification . Those attempts were aborted because of Russia's internal strife, but they ruined Russia's relationship with Finland. In addition, support increased in Finland for self-determination movements. World War I led to the collapse of
3300-618: The 2nd and 3rd-place winner was Kaj Franck. Järvinen was very pleased with the outcome of the competition and Wirkkala and Franck were given free rein to design art glass at the Iittala glassworks. Thanks to the efforts of Kaj Franck and Tapio Wirkkala the attitude to glass changed. Clarity and refraction of light began to be appreciated from a new perspective. Since the late 1940s, the designers Göran Hongell and Erkki Vesanto concentrated on serial production while Tapio Wirkkala and Kaj Franck focused on designing art glass. The results could be seen, with
3400-559: The Ahlström Group started to modernize the Karhula and Iittala glassworks in 1935. Ahlström officially divided the production of Karhula-Iittala products in 1937. Iittala Glassworks would concentrate on hand-blown glass, while Karhula Glassworks would take over all automated glass production. The plans, which had been around as early as 1933, were delayed because of WW2, though working methods and furnaces were modernized anyway in 1937. Some of
3500-542: The Finnish Civil War to the early 1930s was a politically unstable time in Finland because of the continued rivalry between the conservatives and the socialists. The Communist Party of Finland was declared illegal in 1931, and the nationalist Lapua Movement organised anticommunist violence, which culminated in a failed coup attempt in 1932. The successor of the Lapua Movement, the Patriotic People's Movement , had
3600-571: The Finnish campaign would take two weeks at most. Soviet soldiers had even been warned not to cross the border mistakenly into Sweden. Stalin's purges in the 1930s had devastated the officer corps of the Red Army; those purged included three of its five marshals, 220 of its 264 division or higher-level commanders and 36,761 officers of all ranks. Fewer than half of all the officers remained. They were commonly replaced by soldiers who were less competent but more loyal to their superiors. Unit commanders were overseen by political commissars , whose approval
3700-557: The Finnish government, and lead them to believe more concession may be forthcoming. Thus, Paasikivi's idea of reaching some sort of compromise by offering the Soviets the island of Jussarö and the fort of Ino were refused by Helsinki. On 31 October, Molotov publicly announced the Soviet demands to the Supreme Soviet . This surprised the Finns, and lent credibility to Soviet claims that their demands were minimalist and thus unalterable, as it would have been impossible to reduce them without
3800-415: The Finnish prospects in a war against the Soviet Union. But the Finnish government was reticent in reaching an agreement out of mistrust for Stalin: there was a fear of repeated follow-up demands, which would have put the future of Finnish sovereignty in danger. There were also those, such as Foreign Minister Eljas Erkko and Prime Minister Aimo Cajander , and the Finnish intelligence in general, who mistook
3900-574: The Finnish-Soviet border on the Karelian Isthmus be moved westward to a point only 30 km (19 mi) east of Viipuri ( Russian : Vyborg ) and that Finland destroy all existing fortifications on the Karelian Isthmus. Likewise, the delegation demanded the cession of islands in the Gulf of Finland as well as Rybachy Peninsula ( Finnish : Kalastajasaarento ). The Finns would also have to lease
4000-633: The Great Purge, further tarnishing the Soviets' image in Finland. Meanwhile, Finland was attempting to negotiate a military co-operation plan with Sweden and hoping to jointly defend Åland. The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in August 1939. It was publicly a non-aggression treaty , but it included a secret protocol in which Central and Eastern European countries were divided into spheres of influence . Finland fell into
4100-536: The Iittala glassworks. Karhula Oy, part of the A. Ahlström Group (a timber refinery), bought the Iittala glassworks, and Norstedt resigned from the board in March 1917. Up until 1910–1920, Iittala Glassworks produced glassware using imported molds, resulting in products that were very similar within Finland and abroad. In time, the entire ownership of Iittala stock went to the Ahlström Group. Though Iittala no longer existed as an independent company, Iittala continued to have
Iittala - Misplaced Pages Continue
4200-539: The Iittala management and the international private equity investment company ABN AMRO Capital . In 2007, Iittala was bought by Fiskars and is now a group within the Fiskars Corporation. The operative management of Iittala holds 3 percent of the shares. Structurally, the Iittala Group has been merged into Fiskars Corporation, and within the main 3 divisions of Fiskars are Home, Garden, and Outdoor. Thanks to
4300-495: The Karhula-Iittala catalogue of 1949 being completely different than its predecessors and containing objects of beauty. Göran Hongell's Aarne glass set, designed in 1948, was awarded a gold medal at the 1954 Milan Triennale – and is still in production. Järvinen's push to make design more relevant was continued when Håkan Södermaström became the administrator in 1950 and further pushed the Iittala glassworks to apply design to
4400-593: The Karhula-Iittala design competition with her Bölgeblick series. The glass was presented to international audiences in London in 1933 and at the Milano Triennial in 1936, where Aino Aalto won the gold medal. The design featured not just simplicity but a new functionalism, as they were stackable. Aino Aalto glasses are still being manufactured. In 1936 Alvar Aalto created the Aalto vase ( Savoy ) his most famous object, which
4500-656: The League of Nations in 1920 and sought security guarantees, but Finland's primary goal was co-operation with the Scandinavian countries , mainly Sweden, and it focused on the exchange of information and on defence planning (the joint defence of Åland , for example), rather than on military exercises or on the stockpiling and the deployment of materiel . Nevertheless, Sweden carefully avoided committing itself to Finnish foreign policy. Finland's military policy included clandestine defence co-operation with Estonia . The period after
4600-422: The Nuutajärvi glassworks and moved to Helsinki to handle his business interests. By 1895, Anders Norstedt was the majority shareholder of the Iittala Glasbruks Aktiebolag. Clas Norstedt, the son of Anders Norstedt, started at the Iittala glassworks in autumn 1895 as a clerk. Later he became the factory manager, and in spring 1896, after his father's death, Clas Norstedt was promoted to deputy director. Clas Norstedt
4700-711: The Russian Empire during the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War . On 15 November 1917, the Bolshevik Russian government declared that national minorities possessed the right of self-determination , including the right to secede and form a separate state, which gave Finland a window of opportunity. On 6 December 1917, the Senate of Finland declared the nation's independence . Soviet Russia , later
4800-556: The Soviet Union also joined the League of Nations. Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin regarded it a disappointment that the Soviet Union could not halt the Finnish Revolution. He thought that the pro-Finland movement in Karelia posed a direct threat to Leningrad and that the area and defences of Finland could be used to invade the Soviet Union or restrict fleet movements. Soviet propaganda then painted Finland's leadership as
4900-542: The Soviet Union formed a puppet government , named the Finnish Democratic Republic , to govern Finland after Soviet conquest. A declaration delivered via TASS stated: The People's Government in its present composition regards itself as a provisional government. Immediately upon arrival in Helsinki, capital of the country, it will be reorganised and its composition enlarged by the inclusion of representatives of
5000-479: The Soviet Union had intended to conquer all of Finland, and cite the establishment of the puppet Finnish Communist government and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact 's secret protocols as evidence of this, while other sources argue against the idea of a full Soviet conquest. Finland repelled Soviet attacks for more than two months and inflicted substantial losses on the invaders in temperatures as low as −43 °C (−45 °F). The battles focused mainly on Taipale along
5100-495: The Soviet Union was mostly impassable except along a handful of unpaved roads . In prewar calculations, the Finnish Defence Command , which had established its wartime headquarters at Mikkeli , had estimated seven Soviet divisions on the Karelian Isthmus and no more than five along the whole border north of Lake Ladoga. In the estimation, the manpower ratio would have favoured the attacker by three to one. The true ratio
SECTION 50
#17328561315735200-415: The Soviet Union's "first real war on a massive scale using tanks, artillery, and aircraft" at Khalkin Gol went unheeded. As a result, Russian BT tanks were less successful during the Winter War, and it took the Soviet Union three months and over a million men to accomplish what Zhukov had managed at Khalkhin Gol in ten days (albeit in completely different circumstances). Soviet generals were impressed by
5300-625: The Soviet border, the Viena and Aunus expeditions , to annex areas in Karelia that according to the Greater Finland ideology would combine all Baltic Finnic peoples into a single state. In 1920, Finnish communists based in Soviet Russia attempted to assassinate the former Finnish White Guard Commander-in-Chief, Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim . On 14 October 1920, Finland and Soviet Russia signed
5400-479: The Soviet military reorganized and adopted different tactics, they renewed their offensive in February 1940 and overcame the Finnish defences on the Karelian Isthmus. This left the Finnish army in the main theatre of war near the breaking point, with a retreat seeming inevitable. Consequently, Finnish commander-in-chief Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim urged a peace deal with the Soviets, while the Finns still retained bargaining power. Hostilities ceased in March 1940 with
5500-474: The Soviet sphere. On 1 September 1939, Germany began its invasion of Poland , and two days later, the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany. On 17 September, the Soviet invasion of Poland began. After the fall of Poland, Germany and the Soviet Union exchanged occupied Polish lands to establish a new border in accordance with the provisions of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were soon forced to accept treaties that allowed
5600-455: The Soviets demanded limited territorial concessions from Finland, and even offered land in return, which would not have made sense if full Sovietization was intended. And according to Kotkin, Stalin seemed to be genuinely interested in reaching an agreement during the negotiations: he had personally attended six of the seven meetings with the Finns, and had multiple times reduced his demands. However, mutual mistrust and misunderstandings would mar
5700-408: The Soviets did not trust Germany and that war was considered possible between the two countries. The Red Army would not wait passively behind the border but would rather "advance to meet the enemy". Finnish representatives assured Yartsev that Finland was committed to a policy of neutrality and that the country would resist any armed incursion. Yartsev suggested that Finland cede or lease some islands in
5800-438: The Soviets to establish military bases on their soil. Estonia accepted the ultimatum by signing the agreement on 28 September. Latvia and Lithuania followed in October. Unlike the three Baltic countries, Finland started a gradual mobilisation under the guise of "additional refresher training ". The Soviets had already started intensive mobilisation near the Finnish border in 1938–39. Assault troops thought to be necessary for
5900-471: The USSR for military purposes. On the next meeting on 23 October, Stalin conceded to lessen his demands: a reduction in the amount of land demanded in Karelia; a reduction of the Hanko garrison from 5000 to 4000 men; and reducing the length of lease from 30 years to whatever date the ongoing (second world) war in Europe would end. However, this sudden change, contrary to previous statements that Soviet demands were minimalist and thus unalterable, had surprised
6000-402: The attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union from its organization. The Soviets made several demands, including that Finland cede substantial border territories in exchange for land elsewhere, claiming security reasons – primarily the protection of Leningrad , 32 km (20 mi) from the Finnish border. When Finland refused, the Soviets invaded. Most sources conclude that
6100-424: The changes at the Iittala glassworks included the conversion of a single special crucible furnace and the old four-crucible furnace into six crucibles. An 8-crucible regenerative furnace was also built, but the substantially increased output did not change the fact that all exported Iittala products were still sold under the Karhula brand, and within Finland, Iittala products were still sold under Karhula-Iittala. After
SECTION 60
#17328561315736200-506: The chaos of the October Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War almost two decades earlier. Soviet leaders believed that the old empire's extended borders provided territorial security and wanted Leningrad, only 32 km (20 mi) from the Finnish border, to enjoy a similar level of security against the rising power of Nazi Germany . In April 1938, NKVD agent Boris Yartsev contacted Finnish Foreign Minister Rudolf Holsti and Finnish Prime Minister Aimo Cajander , stating that
6300-406: The condition that he be allowed to implement Shaposhnikov's initial plan of a focused attack on the Karelian Isthmus to break the Mannerheim Line; it was accepted. In January 1940, the Leningrad Military District was reformed and renamed "North-Western Front". The Soviet forces were organised as follows: The Finnish strategy was dictated by geography. The 1,340 km (830 mi) border with
6400-451: The demands and the Soviet military build-up as a mere bluff on the part of Stalin, and were thus disinclined to reach an agreement. The Finns made two counteroffers to cede the Terijoki area to the Soviet Union. That would double the distance between Leningrad and the Finnish border but was far less than the Soviets had demanded. The Finns would also cede the islands in the Gulf of Finland, but they would not agree to lease any territory to
6500-416: The entire range of products. At the Fairs in Helsinki in 1950, Karhula-Iittala was awarded gold for their products and the public voted Tapio Wirkkala's Kantarelli as the most beautiful object at the exhibition. The 1950s were a further highlight for Finnish design starting with the Milan Triennale from 1951 awarding Finland 25 prizes. 3 Grand Prix's were awarded to Tapio Wirkkala and Timo Sarpaneva received
6600-439: The final meeting: the Soviets stopped responding to further Finnish letters and on 13 November, when the Finnish delegation was recalled from Moscow, no Soviet officials came to see them off. The Finns had left under the expectation that the negotiations would continue. Instead, the Soviet Union ramped up its military preparations. The negotiations had failed, as neither side was willing to substantially reduce their demands, nor
6700-450: The first 17 glassblowers came from the Limmared glassworks in Sweden. They, along with the local Swedish glassblower Johan Fredrik Gauffin, who was part owner, made the first glass objects on November 24, 1881. In February 1888, Abrahamson left the loss-making Iittala glassworks, and Anders Andersson, the chairman of the board, took over the directorship of the Iittala glassworks. In 1865, the Swede Anders Norstedt resigned as administrator of
6800-458: The first designer hired for a Finnish glassworks. Hongell initiated collaboration between designers and glassblowers by bringing drawings to the glass workshop to ask about technical aspects of blowing the object. Karhula-Iittala also collaborated with many other designers including Gunnel Nyman and Lisa Johansson-Pape. Aino and Alvar Aalto brought functionalism to Finland and Iittala in the 1930s. In 1932 Aino Aalto entered and earned second place in
6900-411: The glass tumblers series Great Men . This series was a passive protest against Russian rule and depicted men that were instrumental to Finnish society and culture. The 1920s and '30s was Iittala's crystal age, in 1929 Iittala was recognized by the World Exposition in Barcelona for the crystals that were being produced at their glassworks. In 1932 Göran Hongell , was hired by Karhula-Iittala and became
7000-416: The invasion did not begin deployment until October 1939. Operational plans made in September called for the invasion to start in November. On 5 October 1939, the Soviets invited a Finnish delegation to Moscow for negotiations. Juho Kusti Paasikivi , the Finnish envoy to Sweden, was sent to Moscow to represent the Finnish government Furthermore, the negotiations were attended by Stalin in person, signalling
7100-510: The modern classics. For example, cookware Tools designed by Björn Dahlström in 1998; Heikki Orvola ’s Kivi candleholders from 1988; Alfredo Häberli's ceramic Origo tableware designed in 1999 and the Essence glasses from 2001; Anu Penttinen's Vitriini from 2010 and the tableware Sarjaton using ceramic, glass, wood and textile as materials, designed by Harri Koskinen , Aleksi Kuokka, Musuta and Samuji in 2012. Iittala products are made in China, Vietnam, Thailand and Romania. Some glassware
7200-506: The negotiations, producing an impasse. Before the war, Soviet leadership had expected total victory within a few weeks. The Red Army had just completed the invasion of eastern Poland at a cost of fewer than 4,000 casualties after Germany attacked Poland from the west. Stalin's expectations of a quick Soviet triumph were backed up by politician Andrei Zhdanov and military strategist Kliment Voroshilov , but other generals were more reserved. Red Army Chief of Staff Boris Shaposhnikov advocated
7300-513: The object. At the Karhula-Iittala design competition in 1932, Aino Aalto's famous Bölgeblick won second place. Bölgeblick tumblers went into mass production in 1949. They were discontinued in 1960, but production restarted at the Karhula glassworks in 1983. Since 1994, the Iittala Glassworks have taken over the production, where they are still being made to this day. With demand for bottles and glasses increasing since 1932, Hans Ahlström from
7400-413: The occupation of Finland. However, Joseph Stalin was not pleased with the conservative pace that the operation required and demanded new plans be drawn up. With the new plans, the key deadline for Finland's capitulation was to be Stalin's 60th birthday on 21 December. Convinced of the invasion's forthcoming success, Andrei Zhdanov , chairman of the highest legislative body in the Soviet Union, commissioned
7500-518: The original cone shaped glass set Kartio in 1956. Timo Sarpaneva's cast iron pot Sarpaneva from 1960 proved that the essential quality of materials can be reduced to the most basic essence by a creative imaginative artist. Oiva Toikka created the dew drop glassware Kastehelmi in 1964, which along with Tapio Wirkkala's glasses Ultima Thule from 1968 are still in production today. Oiva Toikka's best known design creations Birds by Toikka have been made since 1971. In 1972 Heikki Orvola designed
7600-501: The outbreak of war, but its reservists were equipped with warm civilian clothing. However, the sparsely-populated highly-agrarian Finland had to draft so many of its working men that the Finnish economy was massively strained because of a lack of workers. An even greater problem than lack of soldiers was the lack of materiel since foreign shipments of anti-tank weapons and aircraft were arriving only in small quantities. The ammunition situation
7700-411: The regime change plan to a Soviet ambassador that the new government "will not be Soviet, but one of a democratic republic. Nobody is going to set up Soviets over there, but we hope it will be a government we can come to terms with as to ensure the security of Leningrad". According to Russian historian Yuri Kilin , the Soviet terms encompassed the strongest fortified approaches of the Finnish defences for
7800-448: The seriousness of the effort. Paasikivi would later recount his surprise over the friendly atmosphere in which the delegation was received, and mentioned the pleasant manners of Stalin towards them. The meetings began on 12 October, with Molotov's offer of a mutual assistance pact, which the Finns immediately refused. To the Finns' surprise, Molotov dropped the offer and instead proposed an exchange of territory. The offer stipulated that
7900-604: The shares, and Wärtsilä retained 30%. Product collections stayed the same, but the brand name Iittala was used for exports. In 1990, Iittala-Nuutajärvi Oy was sold to the Hackmann Group, which had acquired Arabia and Rörstrand-Gustavsberg . The Designor business area of the Hackman Group was renamed Iittala oy ab in 2003. In 2004, the Italian ALI Group bought the Hackman Group and sold the business area Iittala oy ab to
8000-433: The shelling was a false flag operation since there were no artillery units there, and it was carried out from the Soviet side of the border by an NKVD unit with the purpose of providing the Soviets with a casus belli and a pretext to withdraw from the non-aggression pact. Soviet war games held in March 1938 and 1939 had been based on a scenario in which border incidents taking place at the village of Mainila would spark
8100-478: The signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty in which Finland ceded 9% of its territory to the Soviet Union. Soviet losses were heavy, and the country's international reputation suffered. Their gains exceeded their pre-war demands, and the Soviets received substantial territories along Lake Ladoga and further north. Finland retained its sovereignty and enhanced its international reputation. The poor performance of
8200-416: The strikingly and unconventional open handled ceramic series Ego . Glassware This list of glassware includes drinking vessels (drinkware), tableware used to set a table for eating a meal and generally glass items such as vases, and glasses used in the catering industry. It does not include laboratory glassware . Drinkware , beverageware (in other words, cups , jugs and pitchers )
8300-493: The success of German Blitzkrieg tactics , but they had been tailored to conditions in Central Europe , with its dense well-mapped network of paved roads. Armies fighting there had recognised supply and communications centres, which could be easily targeted by armoured vehicle regiments. Finnish Army centres, in contrast, were deep inside the country. There were no paved roads, and even gravel or dirt roads were scarce. Most of
8400-574: The taking over of the Viiala glassworks by Karhula Oy and Riihimäen Lasi Oy, a separate furnace for blowing electric lamps was built since the employees, as part of the deal, went to the Iittala glassworks. During the Winter War and the Continuation War , part of the Second World War, production came to a halt due to shortages of materials and labor. Production restarted in 1946, and factory modernization
8500-466: The terrain consisted of trackless forests and swamps. The war correspondent John Langdon-Davies observed the landscape: "Every acre of its surface was created to be the despair of an attacking military force". Waging Blitzkrieg in Finland was a highly-difficult proposition, and according to Trotter, the Red Army failed to meet the level of tactical co-ordination and local initiative that would be required to execute such tactics in Finland. Commander of
8600-400: The various parties and groups participating in the people's front of toilers. Soviet leaflets dropped over Helsinki on the first day of the war stated: "Finnish Comrades! We come to you not as conquerors, but as liberators of the Finnish people from the oppression of the capitalists and the landlords". In 1939, Soviet military leadership had formulated a realistic and comprehensive plan for
8700-415: The war. Molotov claimed that the incident was a Finnish artillery attack. He demanded that Finland apologise for the incident and to move its forces beyond a line 20–25 km (12–16 mi) from the border. Finland denied responsibility for the attack, rejected the demands and called for a joint Finnish–Soviet commission to examine the incident. In turn, the Soviet Union claimed that the Finnish response
8800-423: The world as their winning of the magazine House Beautiful's Most Beautiful Object of 1954, for Orkidea shows. With the rise of art glass, designers’ names became the bases for sales and Timo Sarpaneva designed the red i-label for his i-collection which in 1956 became the symbol for the Iittala brand, albeit the Karhula name was still used for Iittala glassworks products in the early 1960s. Kaj Franck designed
8900-568: Was Finland's largest exporter of glass, accounting for 77% of exports. In 1983, Iittala Glassworks had 530 employees. Glass manufacturing was relocated to another Ahlström business unit in 1985 since Iittala was now focused mainly on exports. In 1988, the owners of the Iittala glassworks, A. Ahlström Corporation and Wärtsilä , the owners of Nuutajärven Lasi, the Humppila glassworks, and Napapiirin Lasi, merged into Iittala-Nuutajärvi Oy. Ahlström retained 70% of
9000-492: Was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland . It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II , and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. Despite superior military strength, especially in tanks and aircraft, the Soviet Union suffered severe losses and initially made little headway. The League of Nations deemed
9100-430: Was alarming, as stockpiles had cartridges, shells and fuel to last only 19 to 60 days. The ammunition shortage meant the Finns could seldom afford counter-battery or saturation fire . Finnish tank forces were operationally nonexistent. The ammunition situation was alleviated somewhat since Finns were largely armed with Mosin–Nagant rifles dating from the Finnish Civil War, which used the same 7.62×54mmR cartridge that
9200-407: Was continued by Antero Järvinen. In 1947, a new gas center and compressed air system were built. The special single crucible furnace was converted into a day tub, and the six crucibles were upgraded to eight crucibles. Flame cutting was introduced, allowing for cleaner cuts than the cracking method. Järvinen also started to push an agenda to make design more prominent within the Iittala glassworks. This
9300-460: Was continued when Hkan Södermaström became the administrator in 1950 and further pushed the Iittala glassworks to apply design to the entire range of products. With much of Iittala's production being lamp glass for the international market, Valto Kokko was hired in 1963. He was not only responsible for designing lamp glass and printed matter, but he was also involved in advertising and exhibitions. Though lamp glass manufacturing profits were shrinking,
9400-426: Was either side able to fully trust the other. The Finns were fearful of an encroachment on their sovereignty, while the Soviets were (claiming to be) fearful of a springboard for international enemies in Finland, in close proximity to Leningrad. No promises to the contrary managed to persuade the other. Additionally, both sides had misunderstood the others position: the Finns had assumed that the Soviets had opened up on
9500-600: Was first displayed at the 1937 Paris World Exposition. The Aalto Vase is iconic, world-famous and more than 75 years after its creation it is still being produced at the Iittala glassworks. Antero Järvinen as director in 1946 had the foresight to set the stage for designers to become the driving force of Iittala and in a competition in Stockholm this played out with the entries not just being sandblasting and engraving but also designing an engraving to go on vases designed by Iittala's Göran Hongell. Tapio Wirkkala won first place and
9600-427: Was highly qualified and was the first Finnish professional in the field of glass, but he was content just managing and supervising technical aspects at the glassworks, so he traveled throughout Finland on many commercial business trips. It was during his tenure that the Iittala Glassworks enjoyed its first boom. In 1898, a second directly fired glass furnace with five crucibles had to be built to meet demand. One furnace
9700-473: Was hostile, renounced the non-aggression pact and severed diplomatic relations with Finland on 28 November. In the following years, Soviet historiography described the incident as Finnish provocation. Doubt on the official Soviet version was cast only in the late 1980s, during the policy of glasnost . The issue has continued to divide Russian historiography even after the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at
9800-424: Was much higher, however, since for example, 12 Soviet divisions were deployed north of Lake Ladoga. Finland had a large force of reservists, which was trained in regular maneuvers, some of which had experience from the recent Finnish Civil War. The soldiers were also almost universally trained in basic survival techniques, such as skiing. The Finnish Army was not able to equip all its soldiers with proper uniforms at
9900-507: Was needed to approve and ratify military decisions, which they evaluated based on their political merits. The dual system further complicated the Soviet chain of command and annulled the independence of commanding officers. After the Soviet success at the Battles of Khalkhin Gol against Japan, on the USSR's eastern border, Soviet High Command had divided into two factions. One side was represented by
10000-614: Was used to blow pharmacy glassware, and the other furnace made household glass and crystal. An initiative by Norstedt resulted in Iittala's iron mold foreman, Alfred Gustafsson, becoming the first in-house designer at Iittala Glassworks. In 1903, Gustafsson created the glass series "Great Men" to passively protest Russian rule. In 1917, due to the First World War, raw materials began to become difficult to obtain, inflation caused prices to rise, and wages soared, resulting in Norstedt giving up
#572427