Library Table Designed by Uno Åhrén for Svenskt Tenn, Sweden, 1930

Armchair, designed by Uno Åhrén or Björn Trägårdh for Svenskt Tenn, Sweden. 1930s. Wool upholstery. Measurements: H: 110 cm / 3' 8'' D: 70 cm / 2' 4'' W: ...

Occasional table designed by Josef Frank for Svenskt Tenn, Sweden. 1950s. Mahogany. H: 45 cm L: 80 cm D: 40 cm Josef Frank was a true European, he was also a pioneer of what would become classic 20th century Swedish design and the “Scandinavian Design Style”. Austrian- born Frank started his design career as an architect after having trained at the Technische Hochschule in Vienna between 1903 and 1910. After his training he went on to teach at Kunstgewerbeschule (The Viennese School of Arts and crafts) where he developed and espoused the new school of modernist thinking towards Architecture and Design that was coming to fruition in Vienna at the time. He also went on to lead the Vienna Werkbund throughout the 1920s. This was a truly progressive group of Architects and Designers who set about improving the daily lives of Austrian people through modernist design and architecture in partnership with Arts and Crafts ideals and construction. Frank’s leadership of the Werkbund had already cemented his place at the forefront of European design. Frank’s time in Vienna was typified by his design for the “Die Wohnung” exhibition of the Deutscher Werkbund in Stuttgart, 1927 where he exhibited along side his contemporaries at the forefront of design, such as the likes of Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius. Here he showed a specially designed pair of flat-roofed reinforced concrete houses in what is now seen as a typical modernist style. What separated Frank’s house from the other 32 houses of the exhibition was the interior and furniture inside the building. It was described as “Neo-Classical” and filled with an eclectic mix of period pieces, modern design and pieces designed by Frank himself that seemed to cross the two worlds. This was a complete opposite direction to that which his fellow Architects were travelling in with their pared back and angular aesthetics. Frank said of his own work: “The house is not a work of art, simply a place where one lives,” and by this reasoning Frank rejected the regimental mechanisation of the living space that his contemporaries believed in, instead he set about creating congenial and spontaneous interiors. Frank’s practice saw him placing the bright colours and the soft forms of nature back into the furnishings and interiors that he thought modernism sorely mist. Frank, along with Oskar Walch set up Haus und Garten in Vienna in 1925. This was Frank’s first commercial foray into furniture and home furnishings and the company went on to become the most influential furnishing house in Vienna with a riotous depth of colour and interesting shapes becoming the trademark of their design. However this success was to come to an end with rise of Nazism in Vienna in the early 1930’s. Frank was Jewish, and he and his wife Anna decided they would leave Vienna for her motherland: Sweden, in 1933. Frank continued to design for Haus and Garten, visiting Vienna occasionally and designing the pieces that would continue to be the company’s best...

Dining table model 1197 designed by Josef Frank for Svenskt Tenn, Sweden, 1940s. Mahogany. This simple yet elegant dining table is an excellent example of how Josef Frank combined...

Table model 590 designed by Josef Frank for Svenskt Tenn, Sweden, 1950s. Elm table top, cherry base, and brass. Stamped. Josef Frank was a true European, he was also a pioneer of ...

Occasional table model 2168 designed by Josef Frank for Svenskt Tenn, Sweden. 1950s. Walnut and marble. Josef Frank’s occasional table “model 2168” is one of his rarer models. Its beautifully carved, turned legs...

Tea trolley, anonymous, for Svenskt Tenn, Sweden, 1950s. Metal. Dimensions: H: 63 cm / 2 3/4'' W: 76 cm / 2' 6'' D: 43 cm / 17''.

A birch dining table and chairs by Swedish architect and city planner Uno Åhren (1897-1977) for Gemla. Masterly crafted in birch wood with birch ply seat backs and pegged joints. ...

Beautiful side table by Josef Frank, with an oval green marble table top on a slender mahogany base. Deep green marble, lovely sculpted legs and feet.

Swedish design dining room table. this square design table is very practical and elegant, its light color makes it easy to combine with other colors in the room. Perfect for a modern...

Rare dining table model 1020 designed by Josef Frank. Produced by Svenskt Tenn in Sweden.

Rare dining table model 1020 designed by Josef Frank. Produced by Svenskt tenn in Sweden.

Very unusual original Swedish Art Deco 187cm dining table in a highly French polished finish with lovely detail. It has 1 leafs and extends from 125cm to 187cm. It has stunning...