Saara Hopea Pink Votive

A hand-blown, cased glass dish designed by Saara Hopea in 1956, for Nuutajärvi Notsjö, Finland.

Hopea was among the most versatile figures in post-war Finnish design, working across glass, jewellery, enamel, textiles, and furniture. [1]

Her glass designs are particularly admired for their clarity of form and restrained elegance, qualities that helped define the distinctive Finnish Modernist aesthetic of the 1950s.

This example of her work features a vibrant pink glass core encased within a thick layer of crystal clear glass. The simplicity of the design allows the colour and material to take centre stage, whilst the substantial casing creates a remarkable sense of depth and luminosity.

Perhaps originally conceived as an ashtray, the piece remains highly versatile and is equally suited to use as a small bowl or tealight holder.

[1] In additon to designing glass for Nuutajärvi, Hopea worked for lighting company Taito Oy, designed furniture for Majander Oy, and designed jewellery for her family business Ossian Hopea in Porvoo. She also created enamelled steel and copper objects and ceramics for Arabia. In the latter part of her career, Hopea dedicated herself to textile art.