Established in 2006
Item No. ：SRHP546
Designer：Saara Hopea
Maker：Nuutajärvi
Size ：H:85mm Φ:72mm 200ml
This stacking glass, introduced in 1952, was one of Saara Hopea’s earliest designs for Nuutajärvi, and was produced from 1954 to 1968.
Beyond its practical function of saving space through stacking, the use of various colours of glass gives the design not only the beauty of each individual colour, but also the visual effect of creating new colours where the glasses overlap when stacked. It reflects a desire to bring brightness and vibrancy to the subdued atmosphere of the postwar years.
A classic of stacking glass design, this celebrated work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the British Museum.
It was exhibited at the Milan Triennale in 1954, where it received a Silver Medal.
Saara Hopea, who had been working as a furniture and interior designer, was invited to Nuutajärvi in the spring of 1952, and presented this stacking glass at the applied arts exhibition in the autumn of the same year. Although it was created at a very early stage in her career as a glass designer, its remarkably high level of completion already revealed her exceptional talent.
It is also particularly noteworthy that Saara Hopea, who began working in glass design alongside Kaj Franck under the idea of creating essential objects for a new postwar life, realized this idea at Nuutajärvi even before Kaj Franck did.
At the same time, this also speaks to Kaj Franck’s keen insight in recognizing her talent and selecting her as a designer for Nuutajärvi.
* In good condition with no noticeable damage.
Saara Hopea was a Finnish designer active across a wide range of fields, with glass at the center of her work. She studied interior design at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in Helsinki. After graduation, she began her career as a furniture designer, and later worked at Taito as a draftsperson under Paavo Tynell.
In 1951, at the invitation of Kaj Franck, she remained affiliated with Taito while working as a freelance interior designer on furniture and spatial design for the gallery and showroom of Wärtsilä, the parent company of Arabia and Nuutajärvi. The excellence of this work led to her appointment as a designer at Nuutajärvi in 1952.
Together with Kaj Franck, she created numerous products and art pieces based on a shared idea of designing essential objects for a new postwar life. Her work also extended to packaging, logos, exhibition spaces, and enamelware for Arabia. For Nuutajärvi’s fish trademark, she was responsible for the final design based on a rough sketch by Kaj Franck, and her package designs were also highly regarded.
In 1959, she left Nuutajärvi to take over her father’s workshop, but despite her short seven-year tenure, her achievements as a glass designer are highly regarded.
From 1959, she designed jewellery for the goldsmith studio Ossian Hopea. After her marriage in 1960, she moved to New York with her husband and also worked on enamel design. From 1963, she lived in Nepal and India, where she designed textiles and other works. She returned to Finland in 1967 and continued designing jewellery until 1982. Jewellery also became an important part of her career.
A rational design approach grounded in meticulous drawings, a refined sense of colour, and an outstanding talent expressed across a wide range of disciplines consistently define Saara Hopea’s work.
In 1954 and 1957, she was awarded Silver Medals at the Milan Triennale.
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