Vase
- Designer
- Alvar Aalto, Finnish, 1898–1976
- Date
- 1936–37
- Material
- Mold-blown glass
- Classification
- Containers, glassware
- Collection
- Decorative Arts and Design
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 5 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (14 x 24.1 x 19.1 cm)
- Credit Line
- Funds given by Mrs. Charles W. Lorenz in honor of Clara Van Zanten
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 192:1993
NOTES
For the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, harmony with nature was fundamental. The fluidity of glass was an ideal medium in which to express the organic shapes he found so inspiring. This vase's transparent, undulating walls and reflective surfaces could be metaphors for the Finnish landscape: the amoeba-like shape resembles an island or even the sea between islands in the Scandinavian archipelago. The rippled surfaces of its walls are impressions from the charred interior of the wooden mold into which the molten glass was blown. The vase's form is consistent with the rhythmic contours that first appeared in Aalto's architecture, interiors, and plywood furniture during the early 1930s. Still mass-produced today, it was among the earliest examples of a free-form, utilitarian object.
Provenance
late 1930s -
Mr. and Mrs. Bawe, Finland, received as wedding gift [1]
1986/87 - 1993
Juhani Lemmetti, purchased from Bukowski Auction House, Helsinki, Finland
1993 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Juhani Lemmetti, through anonymous agent [2]
Notes:
[1] Mr. and Mrs. Bawe received the vase as a wedding gift in the late 1930s. Mr. Bawe worked at Karhula Glassworks during this time. Some years after Mr. Bawe's death, Mrs. Bawe consigned the piece to Bukowski's, where it was purchased by Juhani Lemmetti [per conversation between Juhani Lemmetti, and SLAM curator, Cara McCarty, February 19, 2004, Helsinki, Finland, note in SLAM document files].
[2] Anonymous acted as an agent and courier for Juhani Lemmetti. Invoice dated December 13, 1993 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, December 16, 1993.
Mr. and Mrs. Bawe, Finland, received as wedding gift [1]
1986/87 - 1993
Juhani Lemmetti, purchased from Bukowski Auction House, Helsinki, Finland
1993 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Juhani Lemmetti, through anonymous agent [2]
Notes:
[1] Mr. and Mrs. Bawe received the vase as a wedding gift in the late 1930s. Mr. Bawe worked at Karhula Glassworks during this time. Some years after Mr. Bawe's death, Mrs. Bawe consigned the piece to Bukowski's, where it was purchased by Juhani Lemmetti [per conversation between Juhani Lemmetti, and SLAM curator, Cara McCarty, February 19, 2004, Helsinki, Finland, note in SLAM document files].
[2] Anonymous acted as an agent and courier for Juhani Lemmetti. Invoice dated December 13, 1993 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, December 16, 1993.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.