Collection: Alsterfors (Sweden)

Alsterfors was a Swedish glassworks in Småland, established on the site of an earlier ironworks in what is now Alstermo. Glassmaking began in the mid-1880s; specialist histories commonly give 1885, while the Smålands museum records the glassworks from 1886. Its output included everyday household glass as well as coloured decorative wares and crystal.

In 1903, the works became part of AB de Svenska Kristallglasbruken, also known as Kristallbolaget. A succession of owners followed over the twentieth century. Designers associated with the factory included Edvin Ollers, Ingrid Atterberg and Fabian Lundkvist, contributing to an output that extended well beyond the colourful pop-era pieces for which Alsterfors is now particularly remembered.

A defining chapter began in 1967, when the recently graduated Per-Olof “Peo” Ström was recruited to renew the factory’s designs. He introduced sculptural forms and opal glass in contrasting colour layers. These ideas initially presented technical challenges, but the resulting collections brought strong sales between 1968 and 1970 and established a distinctive place for Alsterfors in Swedish glass design.

Ström’s vases and bowls combined clear geometric shapes with bold colour and a playful, immediate character. Rather than treating art glass only as an expensive display object, his approach brought contemporary design into functional everyday forms. His work drew on both Swedish glassmaking traditions and an interest in Italian glass, and its influence was felt at other Swedish factories.

Ström’s time at Alsterfors ended with a temporary bankruptcy in 1972; this should not be confused with the final closure of the glassworks in 1980. Many Alsterfors pieces were unsigned and identified with paper or foil labels, while some Ström designs carry signatures and dates. Surviving marks and documented designs therefore provide more useful identification evidence than colour or shape alone.

Read more about Peo Ström at Alsterfors in the Smålands museum account here, and the museum’s glassworks history here.