matti klennell for iittala

‘thieving magpies’

swedish designer matti klenell has designed a series of glass birds which has been manufactured by finnish glass manufacturer iittala. in designing these pieces, klennell was drawing from the idea of magpies and their talent for stealing jewellery and hiding them in their nests. klenell wanted to incorporate the same idea of ‘hiding’ into his new pieces. in the process, he has given his glass birds a practical use alongside their aesthetic one. part of the manufacturing process required klenell to work with the skills of glassblowers and craftsmen at iittala’s nuutajärvi glassworks.

matti klenell is the fourth designer to add his vision to the steadily growing iittala birds collection. klennel was asked by iittalia to reinterpret the iconic glass birds ooiva toikka designed in 1972. since then, the design has been renewed in more than 100 different variations.

‘thieving magpies’

‘thieving magpies’

‘thieving magpies’

‘thieving magpies’

‘thieving magpies’

‘thieving magpies’

‘thieving magpies’

‘thieving magpies’

‘thieving magpies’ collection

klenell has designed two bird families for iittala: the harakka (magpie) family and the korpi (deep forest) family, both with two generations of members.

‘thieving magpies’ collection

process shot, iittala’s nuutajärvi glassworks

process shot, iittala’s nuutajärvi glassworks

process shot, iittala’s nuutajärvi glassworks

process shot, iittala’s nuutajärvi glassworks

nuutajärvi factory in finland

nuutajärvi factory in finland

nuutajärvi factory in finland