Pressed Glass 4644 bowls designed by Aina Aalto

In 1923, Aino Marsio went to work for architect Alvar Aalto. They fell in love, married a year later, and went on to form visionary design firm Artek. In 1932, Aino entered a competition run by Finnish glassworks Karhula (which later merged with Iittala) to design an affordable, stylish tableware range that could be mass-produced. Her entry featured ribbing on the outside – an aesthetic, as well as functional feature that stuck to her modernist principles of eliminating design for design's sake. She came second, but the range went on to win a gold medal at the 1936 Milan Triennale, cementing its place in design history.

Stockist: £11.50 for two, Iittala

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