From Gustavian to Sweden NXT

When it comes to furniture, there are really no styles that have actually originated in Sweden. It is rather a question of interpretations of foreign styles that have emerged as very unique and Swedish furniture styles. A case in point is the 18th century Gustavian style that is now the rage all over the world.

"It was essentially an attempt to copy Louis XVI without having the French pieces to work from", says-New York designer Vincent Wolf. "The style is less ornate, but certainly as elegant. The proportions are beautiful, and the simple lines make them work well in contemporary spaces."
The marked restraint in the Swedish designs was not prompted by a shortage of material, but was an expression of aesthetic moderation that we can also see in contemporary furniture designed today.

KAROLINIAN
Swedish Baroque 1650-1720
Swedish baroque has been called "Karolinian" after Karl XI and XII's soldiers. Chairs with a crown ornament on top of the leaning back are even called Karl XII chairs, but this type of chair with its cabriolet legs and leather or woven seat and back originated from England and had little to do with the Swedish king.

The warrior king and his father were no patrons of the arts, but Karl XII's taste for simplicity inspired his contemporaries and resulted in beautiful restrained architecture, furniture and silverware. The style contrasted sharply with the opulent German baroque from the same time. Interestingly many German baroque cupboards with two doors, two drawers and "ball" legs have made their way to Swedish auctions where they are generally bought back by German antique dealers.

FARMER
Baroque 1720-50 Rococo 1750-70
Local cabinet makers in Stockholm and Gothenburg copied the latest furniture styles from the European courts and the aristocracy. Baroque copies by such Swedish masters as Bruchart Precht and his sons Gustav and Christian as well as Rococo copies by Lars Nordin and Nils Dahlin are very close to the originals. When these copies in their turn were copied by artisans in the countryside subtle differences became apparent. A Farmer Baroque "Queen Anne" chair evolved around 1750 with cabriolet legs and the typical H-shaped cross bar support between the legs. Simultaneously a lighter Rococo version of the "Queen Anne" chair became widely used in the homes of wellto-do middle-class in the cities as well as in the country. Styles of furniture and decoration could prevail in the countryside long after they had fallen out of favour with urban craftsmen, so it is often hard to date traditional furniture.

GUSTAVIAN
1111-1809
The Gustavian era stretched from the reign of Gustav II (1771-92) and his son Gustav IV Adolf (1792-1809) during which time Sweden was greatly inspired by French manners and taste. The generous elegant lines of the Rococo became more geometric in their Gustavian development. Straighter lines allowed "ebenists" or cabinet makers like Georg Haupt and Gottlieb Iwerson to use more intarsia inlays. Their chests of drawers fetch enormous prices at auctions today. Other masters from this era are Jonas Hultsten, G.A. Ditzinger, Nils Petter Stenström, Anders Lundelius, Fredrik Scholin, Karl Fredrik Ekström to name just a few.

KARL-JOHAN
1810-1840
The late newspaper magnate Robert Maxwell had a large collection of Swedish Empire furniture. So does fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. Pop star Elton John has a house-full of Swedish Karl Johan furniture in birch. Among the avant garde set Karl Johan furniture beats by far the Gustavian furniture in popularity. Early Swedish Empire was light, often white and sometimes called Late Gustavian.

Under the reign of Karl XIV Johan the Napoleonic French influence became stronger resulting in heavier and sometimes clumsier design. What makes the Swedish furniture from this time special was the use of light birch, cherry wood and elm wood rather than the dark mahogany. The Karl-Johan style gave gradually way to the softer Biedermeier style that was popular with the middle class. The furniture came in light coloured woods with ebony ornamentation and horsehair upholstery.

NORDIC
Viking Style 1880-96
The Viking style is just a short parenthesis, but an amusing one nevertheless. Artist August Malmström and others designed large sets of furniture in this fantasy version of Viking and Celtic styles as an echo to the "Götska Förbundet" movement to revive the ancient Nordic times. Billionaire Curtis Carlson has bought a complete dining room set from this period that now serves him well in his lunch room.

CARL LARSSON
Classical mixtures 1890
There has never been a Carl Larsson style as such, but he (1853-1919) and his styleconscious wife Karin furnished their home with an inspired mixture that represents the best of the neo-classical and art nouveau styles. In his wonderful paintings, Carl Larsson showed the world his home with its pleasant mixture of old and new upperclass furniture from the 18th century mingled with simpler furniture of wood ordered from the local cabinet maker. The neo-classical chair which was common during the first half of the 19th century, gained new popularity around 1900, very much through the paintings of Carl Larsson. The Larssons were greatly inspired by the English reform movements and the idea of furniture for everybody. The same ideas were heralded by furniture maker Carl Malmsten and Viennese professor Josef Frank each in their individually inspired way. Both believed that furniture should serve a person with comfort and practicality. Both combined in their very distinctive styles elements from all times and styles. This is what the furniture giant IKEA is doing today and a new addition to the IKEA lines is going to be Carl Larsson inspired.

FUNKIS
Swedish Functionalism 1930 -
Swedish functionalism was a short-lived affair, but it still lives on and continues to inspire. Funkis was introduced at the radical Stockholm Exhibition in 1930. Architects Gunnar Asplund, Sven Markelius, Uno Åhr6n and others presented variatons on French styles of functional furniture. These Swedish designers incorporated more light and added black painted birch to complement the typical steel tube furniture. Six years later Bruno Mattson made his debut with formed wood and later tubular steel chairs that are beautiful sculptures in themselves. Mattson was autodedactive and had a burning interest for Le Corbusier, Bauhaus and his own glass houses. His chairs made it to the Museum of Modern Art at an early stage and put a modified Swedish Functional ism on the world map.

SWEDEN NXT
The new wave 1990 -
After years of hibernation dwelling on ergonomics and design for institutions, Swedish furniture designers are once again ready to show the world that they mean business.

"Swedish design today presents an irreverence for form and fertility of imagination", says design guru Helena Dahlbäck Lutteman at the National Museum of Art. "But there is also a more traditional line, rooted in the 18th century or an offspring of the best of 'Scandinavian Modern" Swedish Modern was the period between 1930 and 1960 when Carl Malmsten, Bruno Mattson, Josef Frank and others personified the light colours and the lean, austere look of Swedish design. This period followed the gentler "Swedish Grace" style (1923-29) when the world first discovered such designers as Carl Malmsten, Carl Hönik and Uno Åhrén.

The National Museum of Art has just opened the retrospective exhibition "Furniture-Mattson, Chambert, Kandell .and Bohlin" showing three acknowledged masters and Jonas Bohlin, the star among the emerging and eclectic designers of today. Other names to follow are Love
Arben, Börje Lindau, Rose-Marie Elling, Mats Theselius, and Björn Hulthen.

As to what style they represent, the answer can only be every possible one, with emphasis on the trendy and exclusive. This is furniture for institutions and the enthusiasts but the creations are so full of ideas that new styles of furniture may very well emerge from them and remind the world that good Swedish furniture is represented by so much more than the furniture giant' IKEA.