21 - Bruno Mathsson

Bruno Mathsson Annika Coffee table Beech and rosewood veneer Firma Karl Mathsson, Värnamo, Sweden Date of creation: 1936 H41.8 D65 cm Bears two labels bearing the name Bruno Mathsson, one of which reads “Firma Karl Mathsson, Värnamo, Sweden,” as well as a printed mark reading “Bruno Mathsson Design / Made in Sweden” Signs of wear; variations in color on the tabletop Designed in 1936—the year Bruno Mathsson presented his first furniture pieces at the Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg—the Annika table is one of his seminal designs. Three bent beech legs support a circular tabletop; their curve extends beneath the tabletop, so that structure and silhouette become one. This principle of laminated and bent wood, which Mathsson also employed for his chairs, brings his work closer to Alvar Aalto’s explorations during the same period. The successive labels attest to a continuous production run by the family workshop.