Blown Glass Art
Blown Glass Art - Toikka Birds by iittala
Professor Oiva Toikka (b. 1931) is one of the greatest names in Finnish glass and iittala’s Toikka Birds are Oiva Toikka’s best known glass blown art pieces of work. Oiva Toikka has worked in the performing arts for as long as he has been working with glass, so it is no surprise that the professor’s command of his glass sculptures is heavily influenced by theater and ballet.
The division of work between Oiva Toikka and the iittala glassmakers creating the glass blown art Toikka Birds is rigorously choreographed. Instead of working at a drafting table, the professor makes preliminary designs from glowing glass mass by giving detailed instructions to his glassblowing team. Each glass blown art bird is mouth-blown from molten glass, and shaped, colored and crafted according to Oiva Toikka’s vision. A master glassmaker moulds the delicate details of the beaks, feathers and tails individually for each bird
