Timo Sarpaneva

Timo Sarpaneva (1926–2006) was one of the central reformers of Finnish design and one of the designers who brought Finnish design to international awareness in the 1950s and 1960s. As a multidisciplinary designer and artist, he worked with metal, ceramics, textiles and graphics, among other things, but he is best known for his pioneering glass design. 

Sarpaneva’s career was particularly strongly tied to Iittala, where he began as a designer in the early 1950s. The classic Festivo candleholders, Tsaikka glasses and Sarpaneva pot are still part of Iittala’s production.