SVEN PALMQVIST. Vase, Orrefors, Expo, signed and dated 1960.

Vase with underarm in red. Signed ORREFORS Expo Pu 185-60 Sven Palmqvist. Height 14.5 cm.

Sven Palmqvist (1906-84) was undoubtedly one of the greats in Swedish glass art. He has said: “No material is closer to light than glass. With glass, you can sculpt with light, paint with the colors of the rainbow using the sun's rays.”
Palmqvist came to Orrefors as an apprentice in 1921, soon became assistant to masters Simon Gate and Edward Hald, and after a more 10-year period of training at art schools in Sweden and Paris, from 1939 he became artistic designer at Orrefors.
With series such as Kraka, Selena and especially Ravenna, Sven Palmqvist showed what an artist he was. Ravenna, which came in its first version in 1948, was inspired by a chapel in the Italian city of Ravenna, where light through small windows shone onto mosaic-covered walls. To bring out similar effects in a glass bowl, he had to further develop the grail technique already established at Orrefors. He succeeded in doing so, and Ravenna became a major sales success for Orrefors for a long time to come.
Palmqvist also excelled as an innovative industrial designer, and his centrifuged glass FUGA bowls became both award-winning and popular.