a stained pine "Lovö" table, Nordiska Kompaniet, Sweden, 1930s.
Diameter 60 cm, height 50 cm.
Wear and stains, dry cracks, burn mark on the top.
Acquired in connection with a house purchase in southern Sweden by the current owner's grandfather in the 1970s. Part of a larger suite from the Lovö series, see Bukowskis Modern Art & Design 660, Autumn 2024, lots 321-324.
Designed in 1932.
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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