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I really should stop dropping into The Republic of Fritz Hansen every time I am the Oxford Circus area! I usually go in to gloat at the vintage knickknacks they are selling for a bomb which I already own and scored for cheap. ( Yes. I am sad. 
)
However, every time I go in there I also find they have brought something new and beautiful in shop for me to covet…
…like these Festivo candlesticks I snapped below last week by Timo Sarpaneva for Iittala.
I have seen these a million times in images, as they have been around since 1966, but seeing their solid chunkiness shimmering in real light made all the difference.
I want them now. In multiples. Many mulitples. Like below…
via
What a greedly gorgeous grouping. Even without candles they are stunning. Sigh.
As happens, I am now noticing them everywhere:
Here is the old school label:
via
Check out those great candles!
I am thinking this year is the perfect year to start collecting, as not only do I have a milestone birthday coming up (!), but have a dear friend crossing for a visit via…wait for it…FINLAND! How perfect is the timing? I know for a fact she will be visiting the Iittala factory, so may put in a request before she goes.
Also putting it out there to any of you, nearer the time (several months yet!), who may be struggling to find a gift (I know I am a right royal pain in the arse to shop for, so since my early twenties have tried to make it easier. I know no shame.).
One of these, any size will do. For the next 3 years. Heh. No, seriously!
I really like the idea of getting these from my nearest and dearest and being able to think back to this birthday every time I see them.
Puuuuhlease?
Now to gently transition from the Bubblicious madness last week, let me continue to bore you with my crazy shopping extravaganza – loosely titled ‘my yearly birthday bonanza’!
Not only did I score my String shelving at Modern Metropolis last week…and my Belgian bubble-wannabe…but also I saw an amazing, monstrously huge, round mirror by Durlston Designs which I couldn’t get out of my head. It is just like the one below:
When I say this is large - in terms of a table-top dressing mirror it is gargantuan – nearly 2 feet across!
I love the over-sized-ness of it. It is solid, heavy metal… and the deep lip of the frame…sigh.
There went the other kidney.
I have tried googling these to find out a bit more about the designers, etc, but only find listings for other mirrors who list them as being from the 1960s by Owen F. Thomas for Durlston Designs in Surrey.
I can’t find anything on the company or the designer. Anyone have any info?
They are gorgeous, tho….sort of like mirror bubbles!
Look at the ones with teak:
Even in red!
Wiping the drool of my chin. I am amazing how contemporary they feel. You can imagine them selling at SCP in Shoreditch for £300!
The metal ones are beauties as well. This one looks like a smaller dresser mirror:
And how about this one, similar to mine? Love the legs!
They look like they might have been some sort of industrial or display mirrors.
Fecking fabulous, once again.
I am now officially out of space and selling things off on ebay! Stay tuned for Winston’s retail storefront.
No. Really. ;-D
As mentioned in previous posts, I am a little obsessed with collecting and display at the moment.
Have you ever tried to collect a group of something, then realised how hard it can be to get shapes and colours to work unless the items are already in front of you and you can mix and match? Well, let me tell you…it isn’t easy!
I have collected a few images of glass groupings to get a feel for what makes a good ‘group’, as a starting point for future ‘acquisitions’. Ahem.
I have noticed that an easy way to play it safe is to group coloured glass from the same maker in different shapes. This way you get the exact same colour glass and can just vary shapes.
This vintage set below is Whitefriars glass.
image above via H is For Home
A yellow group from US company, Blenko:
I drool over the idea of pristine, all white groupings like the Empoli one below, but then get caught up in the gloriousness of coloured glass…
…like this!
Here is a bit of variation in this glass selection from Kastrup – same colour, different tones:
Going a little further into colour theory, these are almost ‘complimentary’ colours – opposite each other on the colour wheel – creating a more dynamic combination, than the calmer, one hued previous examples.
And finally, throwing caution somewhat to the winds (the colours are still within a certain tone and feel):
Look at the amazing shapes of these Empoli vases! Yum.
images above via VMGlasshouse
So many choices. How can one little owl decide???
As I learn more about glass, I am seeing more and more examples of beautiful vessels that I will never be able to afford, but am loving to look at!
I have been learning about about Italian glassworks Venini lately, and wanted to show a few stunning examples.
The following beautiful vase is listed on Ebay at the moment, a ‘battuto’ vase designed by Carlo Scarpa in 1940. The battuto technique involved grinding out the dimples seen by hand, and then sandblasting the finished piece to give it a satin effect.
Below is a vase by Paolo Venini, in the ‘inciso technique’ – again marks ground into the glass by hand, though these ones straight.
This sommerso vase is blue and amber and cased in clear. You can see the incised thin lines better in the detail shots if you click on the image.
More Venini Inciso vessels from Antique Helper. Purple and red Sommerso with incised surface.
Mentioned in a previous post, here are more of the gorgeous Tapio Wirkkala ‘incalmo’ Bolle vessels by Venini, which I covet dearly.
Despard Gallery’s site describes the incalmo process as “A highly difficult technique that consists in jointing two blown glass shapes of identical diameter while hot, so as to obtain a single object composed of different parts, usually made of different colours.”
This incalmo below was designed by Gio Ponti. Quite a different feel from Wirkkala’s clean, airy shapes. In contrast the one below feels quite solid, and chunkier!
There are actually 3 layers of glass in the base and stopper, as the red has been made opaque with a casing of white on the inside.
Trying to get the 3 layers of glass, all in different colours (therefore with different melting points) to fuse must have been a nightmare!
More Ponti from the Botterweg site.
Incalmo Clessidra hourglasses by Paolo Venini from the 1960s.
I thought I would include this rare “Cappello del Doge” vase, as it so different and contemporary looking.
By Thomas Stearns, 1962, this vase sold for a gargantuan $56 250 US at auction! Venini is definitely in the big leagues for glass collectors.
