Cooper Hewitt says...
Iittala Glassworks in southern Finland was founded in 1881. The works expanded at the turn of the twentieth century and underwent a few changes in leadership. The Karhula Osakeyhtiö glassworks was founded east of Helsinki a few years later in 1888. In 1917, inflation due to World War I caused prices and wages to rise. Karhula Oy (part of the A. Ahlström Group, a timber refinery) bought Iittala Glassworks. Under Ahlström’s direction, the factory specialized in the production of chemist bottles and other domestic items. In the early 1920s, a sales agency was established to broaden the export market. In 1932 Göran Hongell was hired by Karhula-Iittala glassworks. Hongell initiated collaboration between designers and glassblowers by bringing drawings to the glass workshop to develop technical aspects of production. That same year, Aino Aalto entered and earned second place in the Karhula-Iittala design competition with her Bölgeblick series of glasswares. 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 Karhula glassworks has involved the collaboration of many notable designers including Aino and Alvar Aalto, Tapio Wirkkala, Kaj Franck, Oiva Toikka, Timo Sarpaneva and more. In 1995, the American company Owens-Illinois bought Karhula and the Karhula plant was closed in 2009. Iittala glassworks still operates today.
