Oiva Toikka

Background

Oiva Toikka (1931–2019) was a Finnish glass designer and ceramist, born on 29 May 1931 in Viipurin maalaiskunta, the rural municipality around what was then the Finnish town of Vyborg. He grew up on a farm, studied ceramics in Helsinki before turning to glass design. He worked at the Nuutajärvi glassworks in Urjala and designed for Iittala, whose glass factory in Hämeenlinna now produces his designs. He died in Helsinki on 22 April 2019.

Signature Style

Toikka's bold, rich glass art stood apart from the streamlined look of Nordic design. His career also took in stage costumes, drawings and textiles, and he occasionally contributed textile designs to Marimekko. His creations, he said, are the same as his chatter: he babbles constantly, and making is the same thing in physical form.

Notable Works

• Birds by Toikka for Iittala: more than 400 mouth-blown glass birds made between 1972 and 2019, renewed annually
• Kastehelmi and Flora tableware (1960s) and the Pioni and Krouvi collections (1970s)
• For Magis, from 2006: the rocking bird Dodo, the coat stand Paradise Tree and the shelving system Downtown, all in rotational-moulded polyethylene, plus the serigraphs Moments of Ingenuity
• Linnut (2019), a Magis and Iittala collection of four rechargeable polycarbonate bird lamps — Sulo, Siiri, Kirassi and Palturi — based on the Birds by Toikka

Legacy

Toikka received the Lunning Prize (1970), the Finnish State Award for Crafts and Design (1975), the Pro Finlandia Medal (1980), the Kaj Franck Design Prize (1992), the Finland Prize (2000) and the Prince Eugen Medal (2001), along with the World Glass Now 85 Award. His Birds collection remains his best-known work and is sought after by collectors.