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Bengt Edenfalk

Bengt Edenfalk (1924-) trained at the Stockholm National College of Art, Craft and Design from 1947 to 1952. He joined Skruf Glassworks in 1953, and served as the director of design during his long tenure at Skruf up to 1978. Edenfalk joined Kosta in 1978, continuing to 1989. He then worked independently at Stromberg.

Bengt Edenfalk's work on the Thalatta technique at Skruf was most noteworthy. Thalatta glass, like Ariel glass, uses trapped air within layers of thick, colored and/or clear glass to create internal designs. The designs can be figural, geometric or abstract. With Thalatta, the cavities that will become the air designs are created at the glassblower's workbench on a molten gather of glass using hand tools and dies. After the designs are formed on the surface of the hot melt, another gather of glass is used to entrap the air cavities.

The Ariel method accomplishes the same result, but is more simple because the design is created by sandblasting or engraving a cold, multilayer blank of glass. After the design is created on the cold blank of glass, it is heated by glassblowers to a molten state; and the outer layer of glass is added to form the Ariel design. Both Thalatta and Ariel pieces are wonderful examples of the glassblower's artistry, but the hand of the craftsman is more evident with Thalatta.