Carl Malmsten, eight armchairs, model "Riksdagen", 1940s. Provenance The Swedish Parliament, designed 1940.
Elm wood and black leather. Makers mark CM. Seat height ca 45, width 62, height 92 cm.
Vaurioita. Tahroja. Kulumaa. Two with loose backs. SOme screws changed.
Sveriges Riksdag.
Bona Folkhögskola.
Sveriges riksdag renoverades under 1980-talet. Stolarna ställdes undan och fick inte komma tillbaka efter renoveringen slutfördes. Arkitekt Martin Skånberg fick i uppdrag att katalogisera möblerna och se till att de kom till användning. Skånberg kontaktade Bona Folkhögskola, som grundades 1984 av Vänsterpartiet och stolarna skickades till Bona och användes i olika sammanträdesrum.
Carl Malmsten is one of Sweden's most famous furniture designers. Many of his furniture are considered modern design classics, for example, the cane chair "Lilla Åland", the armchair "Farmor", the sofa "Samsas", the cabinet "Herrgården", and the furniture series "Vardag".
Both "Lilla Åland" and "Vardag" adopted the ideals of "beautiful everyday goods" of the 1940s. Their neat shape and frugal design quickly became timeless interior details that we still see in many homes today.
At the beginning of his career, Malmsten interned at various carpentry workshops and studied furniture at Nordiska museet and Skansen. He had his breakthrough in 1916 when he was commissioned to design part of the interior of Stockholm's City Hall.
During his career, Malmsten collaborated with several architects, such as Ragnar Östberg, Ivar Tengbom, and Ferdinand Boberg. He designed furniture for Stockholm's concert hall and Ulriksdal castle. He participated in the now iconic hosing exhibition at Liljevalchs gallery in 1917, where the term "Beautiful everyday goods" was coined.