Nanny Still 'Ilmapallo' Vase

An ‘Ilmapallo’ (Balloon) vase or art object designed by Nanny Still for Riihimäki Glassworks, 1961.

Just as the name suggests, this piece of glass is a bulbous inflated balloon shaped bubble, on a stem, with the pale violet colour of the transparent glass being also suggestive of the designs' visual lightness.

The successful drama captured in the ‘Ilmapallo’ series owes thanks to Still's development of the 'Harlekiini' service in 1958. Undoubtedly, this is where Still mastered how to exploit strong colour and juxtapose bulbous geometric forms with elongated or squat silhouettes. Still’s exaggerated Bottles (1959) and Saturnus (Saturn) vessels (1960) were also designed just after the seminal Harlekiini service.