Jules Perahim, Personnages surréalistes, lithograph ex. 17/40, lithograph Michel Casse, signed, dated (19)81

Inspired by the melting ice in Lapland, the Ultima Thule series is design legend Tapio Wirkkala’s most famous work. Wirkkala originally created the surface of Ultima Thule in the 1960s after carving into a graphic mold. Ultima Thule is an exclusive design which reflects the thousands of hours spent perfecting the glass-blowing technique required to produce the effect. Tapio Veli Ilmari Wirkkala (2 June 1915, Hanko – 19 May 1985) was a Finnish designer and sculptor, a major figure of post-war design. His work ranges from plastic ketchup bottles and metalware to glass, ceramics and plywood in a range of styles. He designed the Finnish markka banknotes introduced in 1955. His range was immense, designing glassware, stoneware, jewelry, and furniture for mass production, as well as individual sculptures in several media. Among his most famous works have been the design for the Finlandia vodka bottle (1970-2000) and for Iittala's Ultima Thule set of kitchen glasses. Both glassware items feature a dripping icicle look, and in the case of Iittala's popular glassware it is said to have taken thousands of hours to develop a glassblowing technique that would produce the effect. Wirkkala did much of his initial design work using a traditional Finnish carving knife, the puukko. Wirkkala designed his own version of the knife. The Tapio Wirkkala Puukko was built by Hackman Cutlery and marketed by Brookstone in the US in the early-1970s. Iittala, founded as a glassworks in 1881, is a Finnish design brand specialising in design objects, tableware and cookware. Iittala's official i-logo was designed by Timo Sarpaneva in 1956. Iittala has strong design roots in glasswares and art glass which can be seen in, for example, the early designs of Aino Aalto glasses designed by Aino Aalto in 1932; Alvar Aalto’s Savoy Vase (Aalto Vase) from 1936; Oiva Toikka’s Birds by Toikka glass birds collection that has been made since 1962, his glassware set Kastehelmi from 1964 and Tapio Wirkkala’s glasses Ultima Thule from 1968. Iittala is the world's most famous glass company in the whole world. Over time, Iittala has expanded from glass to other materials, such as ceramics and metal while keeping with their key philosophy of progressive elegant and timeless design, such as Kaj Franck’s Teema ceramic tableware from 1952 and Timo Sarpaneva’s cast iron pot Sarpaneva from 1960. Iittala focuses on timeless design which can be seen not only in older creations but in the modern classics such as cookware Tools designed by Björn Dahlström in 1998 and Heikki Orvola’s Kivi candleholders from 1988. Source: wikipedia.org