Lot 65: Carl Bergsten (Swedish, 1879-1935)

Prototype side chair
1906, executed by the Gemla cabinetmakers for the Strömsholmen Restaurant, Norrköping, ebonised bentwood with ball feet, drop-in upholstered leather seat.
42 in. (107 cm.) high, 17 3/4 in. (45 cm.) wide, 21 in. (61 cm.) deep

ed. D.R. McFadden, Scandinavian Modern Design 1880-1980, New York, 1983, p.83, pl.66 (example illustrated)

Viennese avant-garde furniture, which by 1906 was dependent upon striking geometric form, found an important echo in Sweden in the work of Carl Bergsten. Bergsten had travelled to Vienna and had met with both Otto Wagner and Josef Hoffmann shortly before producing this chair, which unitess refined Swedish neo-classicism to a strongly geometric presence. The U-shaped curve to the rear floor stretcher was found to impede passage of the restaurant's serving staff, and shortly after the chair's intruduction this defining feature was removed. Subsequent examples of the design were produced from thicker timber, which although improving the robustness of the design, severely compromised the chair's slender elegance. This design is also noteworthy for its employment of bentwood construction, which anticipates the later designs of Bruno Mathsson and Alvar Aalto. This example, which was purchased directly from an industrial design exhibition in Norrköping in 1906, survives as a complete intact example of Bergsten's original design.

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.