Bruno Mathsson
Image rights
The artworks in this database are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without the permission of the rights holders. The artworks are reproduced in this database with a license from Bildupphovsrätt.
For condition report contact specialist
a 'T209' sofa, Firma Karl Mathsson, Värnamo 1967.
Upholstered with green textile, beech legs, marker's mark. Length 187 cm, height 79 cm, seat height ca 36 cm.
Wear.
Provenance
Torbjörn Lenskog Collection
More information
The model was designed in 1939.
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.