Topic: Sarpaneva/Finlandia question

[gfirob]

Does anybody know why some of the Sarpaneva Finlandia pieces (blown into charred wooden molds)  have clear, polished bottoms, and some have matte bottoms?  Is one older than the other? 
Thanks
Rob

[Pinkspoons]

I've only the ones from the time they were first brought out (bought from a collector who bought them new), and they all have the stippled matt bases.

[gfirob]

Thanks very much for the reply.  I have 9 pieces of Finlandia and 6 of them have clear bottoms.  One of them has the mark of charcoal fragments impressed into the bottom, the rest of which is polished clear.  Of course there is no way to identify the age of any of them since they were bought randomly, but the clear ones all seem more worn, more scratches on the bottom (though maybe a polished bottom would scratch more easily).  Any idea why the change would be made?

Also, I have seen versions of Finlandia on the web in dark red glass.  Has anyone ever seen this in person, or know anything about it?  All of mine are either clear or gray-green. 

Any further details about Finlandia would be very much aprecitated.

Thanks for your help.

Rob

[Pinkspoons]

I've just looked through my notes - my three clear glass Finlandia vases with matt bases were originally bought between 1964-1966.

No idea if the different bases mark different production perids, though.

[gfirob]

Thanks very much.  Sounds like those are the oldest for sure.  Did you record the model numbers?
Thanks again.
Rob

[Pinkspoons]

All three pieces are model 3352, each with different degrees of hand-worked manipulation to the shape after it was taken out of the mould.

[Lustrousstone]

originally bought between 1964-1966.

 :24: Not by Nic personally, he's a mere babe 

[Pinkspoons]

Goodness no - I wasn't to be born for another 15 years in 1964. 

I was lucky enough, however, to meet a collector pruning some of their long-owned items to make room and raise cash for a new hobby. They bought the three vases from a swanky shop/gallery in New York, where they lived during the two years mentioned.

[gfirob]

Nic
Thanks very much for the information.  The differences in the Finlandia pieces are pretty distinct, due to the nature of the burned wood process and also (as you suggest) to the way they seem to be finished.  In the catalog of the Sarpaneva traveling show (which I actually saw in 1995, I think) which got me interested in this glass in the first place) photographs of the burned molds include the round bottom, which is also charred wood in that case.   But there were also art pieces made (as distinct from the production pieces) so that round mold might have been from those.  I have ordered the book Iittala: 125 Years of Finnish Glass by Marianne Aav, which is supposed to have all the Finlandia in it, but a dealer told me that some was missing.

 I guess these two treatments of the bottoms of the vases may be a way to keep them from showing wear so much.  I don't know but I'm very interested in any thoughts or information anybody has about this series of glass.

The big problem with these seems to be that the knife-edge grinding of the tops of them is very prone to chipping.

I have attached a photo of the two bottoms (matte and polished) and the surfaces of 3 different examples of the same vase (3351) in gray-green.  I have never posted pictures here before so I hope they work.

Thanks again

[gfirob]

Having a problem with multiple photos.  here is the comparison of the two bottoms