Maker (02)
The makers · (02)
Itsu
Itäsuomalainen Sähkö Oy · Helsinki, 1945–1966
- Founded
- 1927, Lahdenpohja, as an electrical-supplies shop
- Founder
- Juho Edvard Leinonen
- Name
- Itäsuomalainen Sähkö Oy from 1939, shortened to Itsu
- Lighting
- From 1945, in Helsinki (factory run as Sähkökaluste Oy)
- Designers
- H. Nuortila, A. Hinkkanen and E. Paatela are named in the 1958 and 1961 catalogues
- Closed
- Bankruptcy, October 1966
Itsu began in 1927 as Juho Edvard Leinonen’s electrical-supplies shop in Lahdenpohja, in the part of Karelia that Finland lost in the Winter War, with branches in Sortavala, Käkisalmi and Elisenvaara. In 1939 the company took the name Itäsuomalainen Sähkö Oy, shortened to Itsu.
After the Winter War the business moved to Helsinki, and from 1945 it made its own light fittings in a factory run as Sähkökaluste Oy: chandeliers, ceiling and wall lights and table lamps, mostly in brass with opal or frosted glass. The catalogues of 1958 and 1961 name H. Nuortila, A. Hinkkanen and E. Paatela as designers. Most models carry no designer’s name.
By the early 1960s Itsu was owned by Idman. The company filed for bankruptcy in October 1966.
Attributions
Itsu fittings are often offered as designs by Paavo Tynell or Lisa Johansson-Pape. No reliable record supports either attribution, and we do not make it.