A gift set comprising a creamer (5578) and sugar bowl (5577), designed by Saara Hopea.
The pressed-glass bowl model 5577, introduced in 1956, was produced in four sizes. In 1959, the pressed-glass creamer model 5578 was designed and sold as a gift set together with the smallest size of bowl 5577.
From around 1956, Saara Hopea also designed gift packaging to accompany the products she created. This package, designed in 1958, features a red-and-white checked pattern reminiscent of a tablecloth together with the Nuutajärvi logo. The design was used for gift sets of the pressed-glass plate (5277), as well as for this creamer (5578) and sugar bowl (5577) set.
Following the positive reception of the “Toive” gift package designed by Kaj Franck in 1954, Nuutajärvi began to place greater emphasis on gift packaging from around 1956 onward. This package is also an important example of Nuutajärvi’s gift packaging development in the mid-1950s, and Saara Hopea’s original gift packaging itself is extremely rare.
* Probably unused. In good condition with no noticeable damage. The box shows slight wear.
SAARA HOPEA｜1925–1984｜FINLAND
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.
