In Context

Lovö – an important and early set of 

Axel Einar Hjorth pine furniture

Lots to be sold at Uppsala Auktionskammare’s Important Sale: Modern & Contemporary 9 – 12 November 2021

Even though he held perhaps the most important position a Swedish furniture designer could during the interwar period, the one as chief architect at Nordiska Kompaniet in Stockholm between 1927-1938, Axel Einar Hjorth’s contribution to Swedish design history remained marginalized for a long time. His frequent participation at important fairs and exhibitions as well as the company’s extensive furniture production had long been sidelined or even unmentioned in Swedish design literature. Today, Axel Einar Hjorth’s original and ingenious designs have placed him alongside contemporaries such as Josef Frank, Estrid Ericson, Bruno Mathsson and Carl Malmsten as one of Sweden’s most important designers during the 20th century.

In the late 1920s, as newly passed laws had entitled workers to longer holidays, people acquired summer homes – sportstugor – and a demand for furniture fitting the ideals of healthy leisure time arised. Hjorth heeded the call and presented the Sandhamn series in 1929. The demand increased, leading Hjorth to design several series in stained pine during the subsequent years. A unique interpretation of modernism in symbiosis with folk furniture tradition resulted in the Lovö series launching in the spring of 1932.

Uppsala Auktionskammare proudly presents the earliest set of furniture known of the Lovö series, dating back to early 1932, as well as the only known with metal tags. Among them are rediscovered chairs from the Nordiska Kompaniet spring exhibition of 1932 and a table with a sandblasted decor identical to the one from the exhibition. The construction of these pieces differ slightly from the more commonly found of the series, with a sandblasted finish and more attention given to the hand-forged nails of the chairs, and most notably the hinges, key plates and key of the cabinet. Of design historical dignity, this set of Lovö furniture stands out as the most important ever offered at auction. ■

Back to catalogue »