"Savoy" Vase

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Object Name: 
"Savoy" Vase
Place Made: 
Accession Number: 
97.3.62
Dimensions: 
Overall H: 14.3 cm, W: 20.7 cm, D: 16.7 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
designed in 1936
Web Description: 
The "Savoy" Vase is one of the most famous designs of the internationally renowned architect and designer Alvar Aalto (Finnish, 1898-1976). Still in production today, it is a classic example of Scandinavian modernism. This flower vase was designed in 1936 as part of the experimental “Eskimåkvinnans skinnbyxa” (the Eskimo women’s leather breeches), which was publicly presented for the first time in the Finnish Pavilion (designed by Aalto) at the 1937 World's Fair in Paris. The vase was later named after a luxury restaurant in Helsinki, called Savoy, which opened in 1937 with custom furnishings and fixtures designed by Aalto and his wife, Aino Aalto.
Department: 
Provenance: 
Sederholm, Peter, Source
1997-05-16
Category: 
Color: 
Technique: 
Material: 
Primary Description: 
Transparent green glass; blown in wood mold. Asymmetrical shape with wavy sides.
Venue(s)
Metropolitan Museum of Art 2014-12-09 through 2015-04-13
Corning Museum of Glass 2015-05-16 through 2016-01-04
At the end of the first century B.C., glassmakers working in the environs of Jerusalem made a revolutionary breakthrough in the way glass was made. They discovered that glass could be inflated at the end of a hollow tube. This technical achievement—glassblowing—made the production of glass vessels much quicker and easier, and allowed glassmakers to develop new shapes and decorative techniques. One technique, inflating glass in molds carved with decorative and figural designs, was used to create multiple examples of a variety of vessel shapes with high-relief patterns. The molds used to shape this ancient glass were complex in their design, and the mold-blown glass vessels of ancient Rome tell a wealth of stories about the ancient world, from gladiators to perfume vessels, from portraits of a Roman empress to oil containers marked with the image of Mercury, Roman god of trade. Among the earliest workshops to design and create mold-blown glass was one in which a man named Ennion worked. Ennion was the first glassmaker to sign his glass objects by incorporating his name into the inscriptions that formed part of the mold’s design, and thus he stands among a small group of glass workers whose names have come down to us from antiquity. On view through January, 4, 2016, Ennion and His Legacy, is composed of mold-blown master works by Ennion and other Roman glassmakers. The works are drawn from the Corning Museum’s collection of Roman glass, one of the finest in the world. Within the larger exhibit is a smaller exhibit organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Ennion: Master of Roman Glass, which focuses specifically on works made by Ennion. Composed of loans from a number of international institutions and private collections this exhibit within an exhibit brings together many of the known examples of Ennion’s wares and will be on view through October 19, 2015.
Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World's Fairs, 1851-1939
Venue(s)
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art 2012-04-14 through 2012-08-19
Carnegie Museum of Art 2012-10-13 through 2013-03-04
New Orleans Museum of Art 2013-04-14 through 2013-08-04
Mint Museum of Art 2013-09-22 through 2014-01-19
This groundbreaking exhibition explores the ingenuity and craftsmanship of decorative arts made for world’s fairs, from the London Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in 1851 to the New York World’s Fair in 1939. During this period, the fairs were the most important vehicles for debuting advancements in modern living, democratizing design as never before. Inventing the Modern World showcases approximately 200 examples of the most extraordinary works of furniture, metalwork, glass, ceramics, textiles, and jewelry produced by leading international artists and firms, including Lalique, Herman Miller, Sèvres, and Tiffany. These exceptional and singular objects—some never before seen in the United States—represent the pinnacle of scientific and artistic achievements of their time. Inventing the Modern World breaks new ground in its exploration of innovation in decorative arts.
 
Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World's Fairs, 1851-1939 (2012) illustrated, p. 242, fig. 21; p. 270 Cat. 176; BIB# 127371
Il Corning Museum (2005-06) illustrated, p. 22; BIB# AI98014
The Corning Museum of Glass Annual Report 1997 (1998) illustrated, p. 13; BIB# AI95178
Recent Important Acquisitions, 40 (1998) illustrated, p. 162, #50; BIB# AI40492
An Eye For Glass (1998) illustrated, p. 12c; BIB# AI77557