ALVAR AALTO (1898-1976)

Subsequent to the 1936 drawings, the first vases were blown in wooden moulds at the Karhula glassworks and transported to Paris for their inaugural display at the Exposition Internationale during the summer of 1937. The strikingly biomorphic shapes generated enthusiastic reviews, and enquiries about the vases started to flood in from around the world. The vase was as yet unavailable to the wider market, consequently Karhula responded to the success of the Paris display by hosting a press reception in Helsinki, on 22nd September 1937, synchronised to celebrate the company's fifty years of activity. In late 1937 Aalto decided to include the vases into the overall interior scheme of the Savoy restaurant, which opened that year on Helsinki's Eteläesplanadi.