Topic: Finlandia vodka bottle design

[Anne]

Then there's Timo Sarpaneva's classic, the Finlandia gin bottle

Gin, Sue, or vodka? I ask as Finlandia vodka has a lovely smooth but patterned shape... in fact there's one in the bottom of my fridge at the moment!

I didn't realise that it was a Timo Sarpaneva design though... cool!

Edited to add, I went looking for a date for the Finlandia bottle design, and find it's by Tapio Wirkkala instead...  those Finns are mighty confusing... I always mix them up too Sue. 

On another forum someone said, "Finlandia Vodka was first sold in 1970. The famous bottle was designed by Tapio Wirkkala and was produced from 1970 to 2000, when a new and to me not so good looking bottle was introduced. Maybe the original was too expensive to make." So it seems mine must be a later bottle, as I can't have had it since before the Millennium! 

But then again, this is like mine:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Finnischer_vodka.jpg/576px-Finnischer_vodka.jpg

Because it was bugging me and it's made of glass, I went searching and found the history of the Finlandia bottle designs here: http://finlandiapr.bfexternal.com/finlandia-fact-sheet from where I deduce mine is the Hammered Ice design introduced in 1998.

Probably no-one else is that interested, but I've split this off for future reference, just in case anyone else asks in the future. 

[chopin-liszt]

That's not the design to which I was referring, Anne. 
You may well be right about it being vodka, not gin, but the bottle I'm thinking of was made using wooden moulds, which burned.....
I found these images - but I'm still not sure they're the one I was thinking of - I'm sure it had an almost carved-out-of-ice sort of surface, with lots of rough rectangular sort of blocks as the texture. I may just be imagining things.

http://www.amazon.com/Finlandia-Vodka-Bottle-Martini-Finnish/dp/B0040AK6F0

http://neulekirppu.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/ryyppyperformanssi/

[flying free]

OOh I love Sue's one!  Fabulous design.
mm, I feel a whole new collecting bug.
m

[chopin-liszt]

This thread has simply left me with a huge urge to go and buy a bottle of Bols gin - the type in the big brown pottery bottle, with bits of brown stuff floating in it - but it was truly delicious gin.
I shall resist the urge, naturally.

[px]

On this page you see the original TW designs ("the one and only" real and original Finlandia Vodka bottles for me )
http://rebeccalibermann.wordpress.com/tag/iittala/

For a collector there would be a couple of other designs to go with them.
A small shot glass with a similar surface was packed on top of the bottle for a while in the 70's,
and then of course a miniature bottle you would get from flights.

[Anne]

Sue, you're right, that was the Wirkkala one, as px has shown in the later links, it's very much like the Ultima Thule pattern?  I love the Wirkkala original but have never found one (yet!)

[glassobsessed]

I have been looking for one of the original Finlandia bottles for more than 15 years after first seeing one in Andy McConnell's book 20th Century Glass. Still have not found one but no complaints given this Finlandia jug was for sale on Sunday. They were not on my radar despite also being pictured in his book, fabulous find, happy days.

John

[chopin-liszt]

I've never seen an original Finlandia bottle either, and like John, had been on the lookout.
That is an excellent find, John. 

[Anne]

What a fabulous find John!

[glassobsessed]

I had a Cheshire cat grin for a couple of days, it is mellowing now. Need a refresher, best go and dust off my bucket list.