a rare set of three "Sonja" easy chairs/sofa modules, Dux, Sweden, 1970s.
Chromed steel frame upholstered in canvas, cushions upholstered in brown leather, marked DUX in the fabric. Length 63 cm, depth 80 cm, height 63 cm per chair. Total length approximately 189 cm.
Wear. Stains and marks. One chair with a minor hole in the upholstery.
Dag Widman, Karin Winter & Nina Stritzler-Levine, "Bruno Mathsson", Arena 2006, model illustrated in a product catalogue p. 78.
Andreas Siesing, "Svenska 70-talsmöbler: i plast, stål, furu och manchester 1969-1980", Lindelöws bokförlag 2021, compare p. 507.
Bruno Mathsson designed the exceptionally rare model "Sonja" in 1977. It was highlighted the same year at the 26th edition of the Swedish Furniture Fair in Stockholm.
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.