Eric Chambert was a versatile artist, designer, and furniture architect with a distinctive expression often described as “human functionalism.” He was influenced by the artistic currents of his time but always transformed them into a personal style. Today, he is regarded as one of the foremost Swedish designers of the 20th century, alongside contemporaries such as Josef Frank and Carl Malmsten.

Raised in his father’s company, AB Chambert’s furniture factory in Norrköping, Chambert began working at the age of 16 and trained as a cabinetmaker before continuing his studies at The Higher School of Arts, Crafts and Design (now Konstfack) in Stockholm. Study trips across Europe brought him early into contact with both the Bauhaus movement and Art Concret.

After graduating in 1925, he was employed at Otto Schulz’s design office I Gothenburg. His breakthrough came at the Stockholm Exhibition in 1930, where he furnished a functionalist apartment designed by Kurt von Schmalensee. This success was followed by participation in the world exhibitions in Brussels in 1935, Paris in 1937, and New York City in 1939.
Despite the ideals of functionalism, Chambert remained committed to craftsmanship, and the furniture from the family workshop was always hand-made with great care. During the 1930s and 1940s, his design language softened and nature motifs became increasingly central. He worked with inlays and later with painted floral compositions, alongside a growing interest in drawing and painting, which eventually also established him as a recognised visual artist.

Chambert was an active painter, creating gouaches, wall paintings, and designs for wallpapers and textiles. Nature was his primary source of inspiration. During cycling trips, he observed and sketched wild plants, grasses, and weeds, sometimes with roots attached, often bringing them back to his studio for further study. This interest in nature deepened in his furniture design. In the 1940s, he began using cabinet surfaces as artistic canvases, painting lush floral meadows in oil. The unique cabinet in this auction is richly decorated with Swedish wildflowers: hepatica, hawkweed, cow parsley, foxglove, bleeding heart, oxeye daisy, mullein, Carpathian bellflower, columbine, and various grasses. Chambert's preparatory sketches in gouache for the present decor is held in the collections of Norrköpings konstmuseum.

Read more about the unique cabinet