1970s Pertti Kallioinen for Lasisepat Mantsala Glass of Finland Cow Parsley Cheese Dome

Description

Because little is known about Lasisepat Mantsala Glass of Finland, there appears to be irresolution on the internet about this … more Because little is known about Lasisepat Mantsala Glass of Finland, there appears to be irresolution on the internet about this pattern. Some sellers are marking their Cow Parsley wares as produced by Mantsala (1978–2003) and designed by Pertti Kallioinen. Others have them as Dansk Floriform Tree (pattern), and manufactured in Italy. In fact there are some viewable pieces with the Dansk label. And it appears all the pieces by Dansk are marked "Italy" on the bottoms. So then, where does Mantsala come in?

One sold listing we found seemed to clarify the history of this pattern. However, the big caveat is that we have no idea if this information is accurate. But after researching the pattern online, and with the knowledge of the person who we acquired this cheese dish told us, the story we read sounds plausible.

The online seller claims Lasisepat Mantsala—who manufactured centrifugal cast and blown glass—originally produced the line, and it was designed by Kallioinen. They go on to say that when the facility closed, the rights to this pattern were sold to Dansk Designs, who then produced them in Italy.

We purchased this cheese dome from a woman whose family is from Finland. She was confident this was from Finland, as that is where her family hailed from. And that it had been produced in the 1970s. Corroborating her claim is the fact that the dome's knob has what appears to be a pontil. The base of the plate is quite thick and heavy for a plate this small in size. And finally, all the pieces we could find online that had the same or similar diameter of the base plate have the parsley design further away from the edge then ours. Which led us to believe the dome and plate are an original handmade/handblown set made by Mantsala.

Neither piece is marked
No chips nor cracks nor cloudiness
The base plate is 6-7/8" diameter and weighs just shy of one pound
The dome is 5-5/8" in diameter, 4.75" tall and weighs 1/2 pound less