Scandinavia Today

A gifted former ceramic designer for Rörstrand pottery, Olle Alberius came to Orrefors in 1971, and is known for utilizing numerous techniques, including ariel, Ravenna, and graal, though crystal was a favorite medium. He often designed commemorative sculptures and awards, and Scandinavia Today is an example of the former. A stylized flower form that has also been likened to organ pipes, the sculpture was commissioned in 1982 by Dayton's Department Store (now Marshall Field's) for a festival of the same name. Alberius worked closely with the grinder during the painstaking three-day period in which the form emerged from the crystal block. This reductive sculpting process is uncommon in glass but lends appropriate weight and mass to large-scale sculptures such as Alberius'.