Iittala - Ultima thule

Ultima Thule series of falling glass

Ultima Thule is the name of the iconic Iittala series, which was created by the Finnish graphic artist, architect, and designer Tapio Wirkkala. In his almost 40 years with Iittala, Wirkkala designed over four hundred objects. Among his most famous are the objects of the Ultima Thule series, originally created in the 1960s by carving graphic shapes. For the series, Wirkkala was inspired by the melting ice in Lapland, which is why the surface of the glass products is reminiscent of dripping drops. The finished products of the series show little trace of graphic shapes and reflect the countless hours it took to perfect the special effect of the Ultima Thule Glasses through a special glassblowing technique. In 2015, on the occasion of Tapio Wirkkala's 100th birthday, Iittala re-launched the Ultima Thule series.

The name Ultima Thule is derived from the ancient Isle of Thule, a place called the end of the world, and from the geographical Ultima Thule. The Ultima Thule is the northernmost land point on Earth, located about 700 km from the North Pole.