Cooper Hewitt says...
Founded in 1881 by Swedish glassblower Petter Magnus Abrahamsson, Iittala was initially staffed by Swedish workers and became known for its high quality wares. In 1915 and 1917 respectively, the Ahlström firm acquired the Karhula and Iittala glassworks, and the company became known as karhula-Iittala. By the 1930s, karhula-Iittala sponsored design competitions, two won by the husband and wife modernist architects/designers, Alvar and Aino Aalto. The company became the largest utility and art glass producer in Finland. Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala won its 1946 competition, and subsequently became chief designer at the company, helping the firm, and modern Scandinavian design, gain international recognition in the post-war years. Major designers engaged by the company from the mid-twentieth century to the present include: Timo Sarpaneva, Jorma Venola, and Oiva Toika of Finland, Australian Mark Newson, and more recently, the French brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. From the 1950s onward, Iittala has been recognized for its work with designers, and a corporate philosophy that emphasizes functional and timeless design.
