Tellus vase, 16 cm, amber

Riihimäki Glassworks' Tellus vase is a bottle-shaped vase made from amber-colored glass. Its round shape and the patterning on its surface embody the Earth, earning it the nickname "Globe Bottle." The Tellus bottle can be used as a vase for your favorite flowers or as a decorative piece on its own.

The Tellus vase was available in sizes of 10 cm, 13 cm, and 16 cm, in clear, amber, blue, and yellow hues. The series also included two differently sized decanters, which were made of clear glass.

Erkkitapio Siiroinen

The Riihimäki Glassworks began its operations on February 2nd, 1910. Mikko Adolf Kolehmainen and Aatu Paavo Kolehmainen together with Hjalmar Gabriel Paloheimo, Karl Alfred Paloheimo and Wäinö Bonsdorff founded a limited company with a purpose to build a glass factory in Riihimäki. The first glassware of Riihimäki Glassworks was blown on July 26th, 1910. The production of the glass factory was initially household glass, but already at the turn of the same year, a glass grinding factory was built on the site, where crystal glass grinding started in 1911. The production of packaging glass, such as bottles and cans, began in the same year. From the 1920s onward, Riihimäki Glassworks started to pay more attention to the design side of glass production.

In 1928 organized its first glass design competition. The competition was won by Henry Ericsson, who was later hired for a position of an artistic assistant at the Riihimäki Glassworks. Gradually, art and tableware glass became an important part of the factory’s production. Riihimäki Glassworks employed several notable artists and designers such as Gunnel Nyman, Arttu Brummer, Nanny Still, Aimo Okkolin, Timo Sarpaneva, Helena Tynell and Tamara Aladin. The production of art and tableware glass in Riihimäki Glassworks was discontinued in 1976. The production for window glass had already ended the previous year. Riihimäki Glasswork continued to manufacture packaging glass and plastic packaging until 1990 when all operations were discontinued.