Pertti has a collection of more than 100 Artek stools—“Every single one of the older pieces is unique”
It was Artek’s Stool 60 that made Pertti Männistö from Kaarina fall in love with Alvar and Aino Aalto’s work. In the past 30 years, his collection has grown to include more than a thousand items, some of which decorate his own home.
How did you start collecting the Aaltos’ designs?
I’ve been collecting Aalto designs since the early 1990s. My interest began with a three-legged stool I spotted in a storeroom of an acquaintance of mine. We got to chatting about it, and he mentioned that if I was interested in Aalto, he had a prototype of one of Alvar’s armchairs. We made a deal for the armchair, but the stool remained forgotten in storage forever. I began researching the Aaltos’ work and started buying every item I came across. Even though the stool was painted over, I’ve regretted not buying it.
I’ve never thought of the furniture in my collection as an investment, although of course their value has increased over 30 years. I bought them for my own enjoyment and began using them for furnishing my home at the time. Before then, my home decor style was Finnish 1930s functionalism, and I had some tubular pieces as well.
Initially, I collected the Aaltos’ furniture, and later on, lighting and glassware as well. Originally, I intended to collect only furniture, but as I discovered other fascinating items, my interest broadened.
“I’ve wanted to get stools that are in as original a condition as possible, no matter how worn they might be.”
You’ve taken a particular interest in Stool 60. How many stools do you have?
I have 60 to 70 of the three-legged stools—I can’t say exactly how many myself. I haven’t collected any other item in a similar way. Almost all my stools are different from one another. In the early decades, you could order the stools from the Artek factory in any color you wanted. For example, I have linoleum-topped stools in 12 different color schemes.
If we’re counting all stools by the Aaltos, including the Fan-leg and Y-leg models, I have over 100.
How extensive is your collection overall?
I have over a thousand items: about 550 pieces of furniture, 130 lamps, and 400 glass items. Most of the glass items are by Aino Aalto. I have a comprehensive collection of Alvar’s glassware too, but I started collecting Aino Aalto’s glass early on.
As the stools can be stacked, 10 to 15 stools don’t take up any more floor space than one.
What is it about stools in particular that appeals to you?
The simplicity and functionality: they can also be used as side tables or nightstands. As they can be stacked, 10 to 15 stools don’t take up any more floor space than one. For some reason, there were still quite a lot of the stools around back in the early ’90s.
What criteria do you have for the stools you acquire?
I’ve wanted to get stools that are in as original a condition as possible, no matter how worn they might be. Wear is part of the item’s history. Every once in a while I’ve ended up with stools that were crudely painted over, as part of a larger batch, for example. However, I haven’t kept those in my collection.
All my items date from 1928 to 1965. In ’65, the factory changed location, and parts began to be bent mechanically. I’ve limited my collecting this way because I don’t appreciate mechanically bent furniture as much as those bent by hand. Every single one of the older pieces is unique. I don’t care for the current Moomin stools and such.
Where have you made all your finds?
In the 1990s, there were local auctions, and there was an auction in Turku almost every evening as well. I’ve also made finds in second-hand shops and received tips from acquaintances. A good collector must have excellent networks. I have friends, acquaintances, and contacts all over Finland, from Oulu to the south. Newspaper ads were also a significant method in the ’90s, so I had ads both with and without pictures.
My home is furnished with Artek.
The Turku region has been a fruitful place because Aalto products have been manufactured here for almost a hundred years. They have spread around the area through former factory workers. Pattern makers usually redeemed and took home the prototypes that weren’t put into production. Alvar’s prototype lamps have also ended up in auctions that haven’t always recognized them as Aaltos.
What do you do with all the furniture in your collection?
I have storage spaces of several hundred square meters where they stay most of the time. My items have also been in exhibitions since 1998, which was the centennial of Alvar Aalto’s birth. Since then, I’ve organized about 20 exhibitions myself and lent my items to museum exhibitions. I’ve also donated dozens of duplicates from my collection to the Alvar Aalto Museum, which lacked those items. I used to visit the storage to admire my collection, but last fall, the furniture came back from the Aallot exhibition at the Kunsthalle packed in transport boxes, so I don’t get to see them.
My home is furnished with Artek. In the music and library room of my home, I have a three-legged stool from the ’40s or ’50s as a side table, with its original blue-painted top. It’s a nice splash of color. We also have a very old stool with a coarse bast fiber cover decorating the stair landing. Part of the reason I like it is the fact that Villa Mairea, with interiors designed by Aino Aalto, has an identical one. Of course, we also have other furniture, like my wife’s heirlooms.
Which stool is your favorite?
I really like the fun three-colored stools because they’re not standard products but were ordered by some customer. They might have, for example, a seat made of curly birch or hardwood with a blackened edge, and legs in different colors. My favorite color scheme is that of the original stool from the Paimio Sanatorium, which has a green top and reddish-orange legs. I bought it along with a rare dresser from the sanatorium, and they share the same colors.
Another fun favorite I bought about ten years ago from a second-hand shop. It’s a mini stool less than 20 centimeters high, but all the proportions are right. It has a green faux leather cover, and it’s entirely factory-made. Currently, it sits on my bookshelf.
I’m also fascinated by stools with linoleum tops. They were supplied to the Vyborg Library in black and bone white. Bone white is probably the rarest color scheme, and I’ve only come across three of them.
And what is the latest stool you’ve acquired?
If I recall correctly, I bought the latest stool last year. It’s as normal as can be—that is, lacquered birch—but a brilliant piece: it looks absolutely untouched! I believe it’s from the ’40s, but dating Artek furniture is really difficult because hardly anything changed in them between the years ’33 and ’65.
