Articles of Interest

Bruno Mathsson was a famous Swedish furniture designer. Five generations of his family were cabinetmakers, including Bruno's father. Bruno, who was born in 1907, grew up in Varnamo learning how to make well crafted wood furniture. He developed the skills needed to become a woodworker and furniture designer.

Furniture designer Matsson wanted to learn everything he could about the technical issues and design styles he worked with. He taught himself by reading books from museums and design centers and networking with other designers. Functionalism was a design style that Bruno was very interested in. He actually won a scholarship for one of his functionalist chair designs.

Since he wasn't satisfied with the limitations imposed by flat board furniture, Mathsson branched out to chairs without springs and heavy upholstery, and towards a clean, elegant design which could be adjusted in position. Some of these designs were so controversial that they remained in storage for many years until Mathsson made a name for himself.

Mathsson was so anxious about the thing he calls the "mechanics of sitting" that he conducted trials to determine the precise blueprint which was created by a person while reclining, even dropping in the snow to look at the result! By 1937, he had attained a Grand Prix design honor at an Expo in Paris. At that time, a few of his lost chairs began to be viewed by the public again.

The Pernilla chair is one of his classic designs. It comes in both easy chair and lounge chair formats that use bentwood and lamination techniques in part of the design and can be made with either webbing or upholstery. Due to shortages of material during the war, Mathsson used jute, hemp, or anything else he could find. This design can be adapted to almost any wood or material. Pernilla chairs usually come with an attached pillow as well.

Another famous Bruno Mathsson design was the Mathsson Fällbord table, a modular table that can be folded and reconfigured in many different arrangements. It was designed in 1935 and remains a modern looking piece of furniture to this day. This timelessness is a common thread running through many of his designs including his highly sought after Mathsson Jetson, Miranda, Mathsson Eva and Pernilla chair designs.

One more table (Bruno Mathsson bord) that deserves a mention here is the superellips. It comes in many different models and as with much of his furniture (Mathsson mobler) are still highly sought after and continue to increase in value. Mathsson passed away in 1988 after a long illness, passing a legacy of modern furniture design down to his family.