Uno & Östen Kristiansson Furniture

Swedish

Swedish designer-siblings Uno Kristiansson and Östen Kristiansson are best known to collectors of vintage furniture for their imaginative lighting and mirrors. As partners, Uno & Östen Kristiansson united high-quality, practical Scandinavian modern design with fresh innovation.

Uno and Östen Kristiansson were born in southern Sweden. Their father was a furniture maker who owned a workshop — Vittsjo — that was named for the village in which it was located. In 1950, Uno opened his workshop in the same village. He called his company Luxus and brought his younger brother Östen on board as a designer and builder.

Like lots of designers of the era, the Kristianssons favored traditional teak wood but also employed more forward-looking materials such as glass, acrylic, leather and plastic. While their work spoke to the organic forms and craftsmanship that is typical of many Scandinavian modern designers, the brothers created minimalist oak mirrors and shapely pine wall lights — which often featured an integration of rattan — that set them apart from other artisans in their field.

Around 1966, Östen took over their father’s workshop and renamed it Östen Kristiansson AB. He eventually returned the company’s name to Vittsjo.

After 1970, Uno and Östen Kristiansson focused primarily on lamps and mirrors. They designed most of these works in acrylic, and wood became more of a secondary material in their composition. Collectors and interior designers continue to prize the many inventive furnishings they produced.

Find vintage Uno & Östen Kristiansson table lamps, wall lights and other furniture on 1stDibs.

Uno & Östen Kristiansson furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Uno & Östen Kristiansson furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of wood and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Uno & Östen Kristiansson furniture, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original furniture by Uno & Östen Kristiansson were created in the mid-century modern style in sweden during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider furniture by Erik Höglund, AB Markaryd, and Carl Fagerlund. Prices for Uno & Östen Kristiansson furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $999 and can go as high as $11,746, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $2,196.