a stained pine 'Utö' table, Nordiska Kompaniet, 1930s.
70 x 56 cm, height 48 cm
Minor wear and dry cracks.
The original owner was a dentist practising in the center of Stockholm. He acquired an estate on the Swedish west coast, outside Ljungskile where he built a summer house. When the house was completed in 1936 it was furnished with Axel Einar Hjorth's 'Sportstugemöbler' which were very much in fashion at the time. The furniture has remained in the same summer house until now.
Axel Einar Hjorth is considered one of Sweden's most significant furniture designers during the 1920s and 30s. Hjorth's early employers included Svenska Möbelfabrikerna in Bodafors and the Stockholm Crafts Association. The big breakthrough came as chief architect for Nordiska Kompaniet, a position he took up in 1927 and held until 1938. Hjorth's first major assignment was the Nordiska Kompaniet's lavish stand at the World Exhibition in Barcelona in 1929, to then participate in several major international exhibitions during the following decade. In 1929, Hjorth also breaks new ground and designs the first series of rustic furniture in stained pine, the so-called sports cabin furniture that was named "Lovö", "Utö" and "Sandhamn" after the islands in the Stockholm archipelago.
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