In 2007, Italian artist and jewellery designer Giorgio Vigna began designing Birds for Iittala. His designs demonstrate the craftsman’s skills in individually hand-crafted art objects. Vigna himself describes his birds as small glass jewels. He draws on his knowledge and hands-on experience of the glass craft tradition still in use in the glassworks of both Murano, Italy and the Nuutajärvi factory in Finland. Vigna is fascinated by the meeting point of imagination, shape and material. He shapes his designs to express the nature of the material.

The Iittala Birds originated in 1972 with Toikka’s small Flycatchers. Today the collection grows with collectors all over the world who enjoy these art objects as simple reminders of poetry in everyday life. These lyrical creatures are a feat of craftsmanship – each bird is as diverse and individual as those who collect them.

All Iittala Birds are hand-blown in Nuutajärvi, one of the two glass factories owned by the Iittala Group in Finland. Mr Vigna first visited the Nuutajärvi glass factory in 1998 when he came to teach at an international glass jewellery workshop there. This initial contact made with Iittala has now led to Iittala launching the Vigna Collection of Iittala Birds. Giorgio Vigna is proud to follow in the footsteps of world-renowned Finnish designers, such as Timo Sarpaneva and Tapio Wirkkala. Many years ago, they travelled to Murano in Venice to create designs in glass. Now it is Mr Vigna’s turn to head North.