Always ready to hold it all

Well-held books and a hidden pleasure revealed.

The festive, provocative, and hypermasculine drawings of Tom of Finland laid the foundation for a recognizable gay aesthetic throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. His characters, known as the “Tom men,” appeared in pen and ink illustrations and comics that helped challenge outdated stereotypes about desire, masculinity, and love between men.

A “Tom man” is defined by his confidence, comfort with his sexual orientation, and above all, a strong physical presence: vigorous bodies, firm postures, and masculinity taken into the realm of graphic fantasy.

This Tom of Finland bookend, designed by Daffy London based on the artist’s original illustrations, pays tribute to one of his most iconic figures: Pekka, a sturdy Finnish worker with boots and a cap, whose name etymologically refers to stone.

Also available: Durk, one of the most recognizable leather figures in the Tom of Finland universe.

About the artist

Touko Laaksonen, known worldwide as Tom of Finland (1920-1991), began drawing cartoons at the age of five. From a young age, he was drawn to the rugged and virile men of his native Finland, a masculine presence that would come to define his entire body of work.

Trained in art in Helsinki, he developed a professional career in the Finnish advertising industry while secretly continuing to create his erotic drawings of hypermasculine men. In 1957, he sent some of his illustrations to the American magazine Physique Pictorial. There, the “Tom of Finland” signature was born, and the construction of one of the most influential images in 20th-century gay visual culture began.

By the late 1960s, his drawings had become a fundamental reference in gay art. The “Tom men” offered a new way to represent homosexual masculinity: confident, physical, desirous, and proud. His work continues to play an important role in building a positive, free, and affirming image within the gay community.

Tom of Finland. Bookend Pekka

Painted molded resin bookend, based on the original illustrations by Tom of Finland.

Height: 34.5 cm
Base: 15.2 x 15.2 cm
Weight: 2.69 kg