Axel Einar Hjorth

Designer Ralph Lysell and Bell Calmeyer, thence by descent within the family.

Ralph Lysell and Bell Calmeyer, he from Sweden and she from Norway, met in the USA and married in 1926, one year later the son Rolf Gösta Calmeyer was born in New York. In 1928 they moved to Stockholm one and a half years later. Bell urged Ralph to furnish the apartment, while she brought the child to visit her parents at Oscarsborg Fortress in Norway.

Ralph went to NK and bought the furniture, which has been in the family ever since. According to family lore, it was made for Ivar Kreuger, who rejected it for being too “delicate”.

Their second child was born in Stockholm in 1930 and not long after they got divorced. Bell took the children and moved in with her father at Oscarsborg’s Fortress, Colonel and Commander Ole Mathias Calmeyer. An installment agreement for the furniture was drawn up between Bell and NK. The debt of 1212.35 was to be paid off with SEK 75/month.

Bell then lived for many years on Solheimgata in Oslo and in the late 60s bought a house in Benidorm on the Spanish Costa del Sol, and she took the furniture there with her. When she returned to Norway ten years later, she left the furniture in Skåne with the eldest son, Rolf Gösta and, who used it as his kitchen furniture ever since.

Ralph Lysell (1907-1987) Designer and industrial designer. Ralph was formerly called Rolf Åke Nystedt but began calling himself Ralph during his years in the USA. He later started using his mother's last name, Lysell, and eventually officially changed his first name to Ralph.
Bell Calmeyer Callin (1899-1986) Midwife. Bell's name was Bergljot, a name she disliked very much and she switched to Bell, probably as early as during her time studying in Scotland.

Rolf Gösta Calmeyer (1927-2022). Born Nystedt and later called himself Nystedt Lysell to finally taking his mother's maiden name Calmeyer.

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.