Tapio Wirkkala Silver Bud Vase

A modernist solid silver vase designed by Tapio Wirkkala, 1954. 

Tapio Wirkkala is best known as one of Finland’s foremost glass designers. His influence and notoriety in this field has given Wirkkala a legendary status within the history of Finnish design. One of the leading proponents of Modernism, Wirkkala often found inspiration in nature and the frozen wilderness of northern Finland. 

Wirkkala worked also in silver from the early 1950’s, designing jewellery alongside vases and trays produced at Kultakeskus, Hämeenlinna, Finland. His works in silver are also inspired by nature, and often convey an abstract botanical form. 

The fluid shape of this tall silver vase is both alien and organic. The curved mouth of this vase, paired with two elegant seams that gently twist around the piece indicate the feeling of a closed, elongated flower bud that’s beginning to open.

The vase displays full Finnish hallmarks.