DesignerFinnish
Aimo Okkolin
1 active items
Aimo Olavi Okkolin was born in 1917 in Finland and spent virtually his entire professional life at a single address: the Riihimäki glassworks, where he worked from 1937 until his retirement in 1976. He died in 1982. His career spans almost exactly the period during which Finnish glass moved from decorative utility to internationally recognised art, and Okkolin was among the handful of designers who drove that transformation.
He began at the factory not as a designer but in a more junior role, and his path to the design studio was shaped as much by technical mastery as by formal training. He developed an exceptional command of cutting and polishing, disciplines that sit at the intersection of craft and mathematics: the angle of each facet determines how light enters and refracts within the glass body, and Okkolin understood this intuitively. His skill as a polisher and engraver gave him the ability to realise designs that other hands could not execute.
The first major series attributed to him is Nimipäivä (Name Day), launched in 1959. These were pressed-glass vases produced in clear and coloured glass, designed for the Finnish gift-giving tradition tied to name day celebrations. The series sold steadily and established his reputation within the company. When Riihimäen Lasi introduced coloured crystal in 1960, it opened new territory for Okkolin, who had already been thinking about thick-walled forms that could trap and redirect light.
The design that defined his career came from an ordinary afternoon near the road to Hämeenlinna, where Okkolin noticed a pond of water lilies. The resulting bowl, Lumpeenkukka (Water Lily, series number 6556), was released in 1960. To achieve its form, he developed a new cutting method specifically suited to thick-walled crystal, one that created radiating channels of reflected light across the bowl's surface. The effect is architectural rather than decorative: the cuts do not just embellish the surface but structure how the whole object is perceived under light. Lumpeenkukka became the best-selling individual item in Riihimäen Lasi's history. It was presented as a diplomatic gift to foreign heads of state, and the Finnish Glass Museum holds six examples across different sizes and colours in its permanent collection. The museum has since published a dedicated research volume on the piece.
Other significant designs include Fyr (Lighthouse), Serpentin, Tähti (Star, produced in neodymium glass that shifts from purple to pale blue depending on light conditions), Kruunu (Crown), Kullero, Terälehdet (Petals), and Flamma (Flame, 1973). Across these works the consistent qualities are weight, clarity, and an interest in how optical effects can be built into the physical form of an object rather than applied to its surface.
On Auctionist, 32 Okkolin lots are recorded, sold mainly through Bukowskis Helsinki and Stockholms Auktionsverk. The dominant pieces are crystal and coloured glass bowls, with Näckros (the Swedish name for Lumpeenkukka) appearing most frequently. The Fyr vase reached 5,026 EUR and a Serpentin bowl 4,607 EUR at Bukowskis Helsinki, while a Terälehdet bowl sold for 3,350 EUR. Crystal bowls through Stockholms Auktionsverk have achieved up to 3,851 SEK. For collectors of Nordic postwar glass, Okkolin offers strong technical pedigree and genuine market depth across his named series.