Cheese dome with tray

Saara Hopea (1925-1984) was a well-known Finnish glass and jewellery designer who started her career as a furniture and lighting designer. Hopea studied interior design at the University of Art and Design in 1943-1946. After graduating, she worked as a designer at the Majander furniture factory and at the Taito Oy lighting company led by Paavo Tynell.

In 1952 Hopea was hired as a glass designer for the Nuutajärvi Glassworks. Glass designs like the Nyppylä bowl, the Kupla vase, the Pantteri vase and the Marja drinking glasses, are some of the most known designs by Hopea. She was also awarded twice with a silver medal at the Milan Triennale for her designs for Nuutajärvi Glassworks: in 1954 for the jug 1618 and stackable drinking glasses 1718 and in 1957 for the Flamingo liqueur glasses.

Hopea worked for Nuutajärvi Glassworks until 1958 when she momentarily took over the family’s jewellery business Kultasepänliike Ossian Hopea and began to design jewellery. In 1960, she moved abroad and lived with her husband Oppi Untracht in the United States, Nepal, and India until in 1967 the couple settled in Porvoo, Finland where Saara Hopea-Untracht continued her career as a jewellery designer.