Bruno Mathsson
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an elm veneered Swedish Modern sideboard executed by Karl Mathsson, Värnamo, Sweden 1938.
Brass handles and feet, the top with space for flatware, the lower part with two folding doors and an interior with shelves, marked with maker's paper label and dates in ink, 1938. Length 135 cm, depth 40 cm, height 79 cm. Key included.
Wear.
Provenance
A summer house on the Swedish West coast built in the 1930's and where the family were good friends of the Mathsson family.
Designer
Bruno Mathsson (1907-1988) is one of Sweden's most prominent furniture designers. Having a father who worked as a master carpenter, Mathsson learned about furniture carpentry at an early age, which he later benefited from in his profession as a designer. The "Grasshopper" chair was the first that Bruno Mathsson designed in 1931 - on behalf of Värnamo hospital. It was made of bent-glued beech with saddle girth upholstery and had an ergonomic shape. However, neither patients nor staff at the infirmary appreciated the chair. Nowadays, the "Grasshopper" is considered a design classic.
A few years later, Mathsson exhibited his furniture at a separate exhibition at the Röhsska Konstslöjdmuseet in Gothenburg, and in 1937 he participated in the Paris World Fair.
Mathsson's furniture is now considered timeless design classics that combine style with comfort. Some of his most famous pieces of furniture are the armchairs "Jetson", which are produced for Dux, "Pernilla 3", and "Karin" and the table "Superellips", designed together with Piet Hein.