Iittala the company was founded in 1881 in the Finnish township of Iittala by the Swede Petrus Magnus Abrahamsson. Due to the lack of skilled artists in Finland the first 17 glassblowers came from  the Limmared glassworks in Sweden. Over its long history the company’s success has been built on the works of renowned designers and artists including Alvar and Aino Aalto, Timo Sarpaneva, Kaj Franck, Tapio Wirrkala, Goran Hongell and Heikki Orvola.Whilst Iittala began as a glass blowing company the range has expanded over the years to include ceramics, flatware, metalwork, cookware and other homewares.