Josef Frank
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a model 881 'Nationalmuseiskåpet' cabinet, Svenskt Tenn, Sweden, post 1985.
Veneered in amboina root, mahogany, walnut base, nineteen drawers with brass handles. Marked Josef Frank Svenskt Tenn. Height ca 120 cm, width 90 cm, depth 45 cm,
Literature
Kristina Wängberg-Eriksson, "Josef Frank, Livsträd i krigens skugga", Signum 1994, the model ill. p. 112 and mentioned p. 224.
More information
Josef Frank has had an enormous impact on the history of Swedish design and he is considered to be one of
Sweden's most important designers of all time. One of his most popular cabinets, model no. 881, is called
The Nationalmuseum’s cabinet simply because it was acquired by the museum in connection with an exhibition in 1952.
Designer
Josef Frank was born in Austria and studied architecture in Vienna. As an architect, he worked with private home areas, villas and apartment buildings. In 1925 he started his own interior design firm Haus und Garten together with two architect colleagues. In connection with the advance of the Nazis, he emigrated to Sweden and was employed in 1934 at Svenskt Tenn. After the outbreak of World War II, Josef Frank, who came from a Jewish family, was forced into exile in New York. At Svenskt Tenn, he made an impact on the product range for four decades; especially when it comes to furniture and fabric prints.
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