NORDISKA KOMPANIET. Side table, provenance Dir. Lundberg (NK), Jugend, circa 1905, mahogany, woodcut decor.

Contoured disc with underlying shelf, cannellated legs, leg catcher with woodcut, stylized orchids, stamped NORDISKA KOMPANIET and below with printed drawing number 2147/109005

Height approx. 70, 69,5x70 cm.

PROVENANCE
Model listed in the NK ledger with customer “Dir Lundberg”. In all likelihood, this refers to Karl Ludvig Lundberg (1851-1928), CEO of the Nordic Company between 1902 and 1912.

After his father's death, the Nyköpingsbördige Lundberg took over his business operations, and further developed the business to become one of Stockholm's leading retail companies. In 1902, Lundberg further consolidated his position within Stockholm's commercial life, by forming together with Josef Sachs (who ran the Paris Bazaar on Regeringsgatan) the first Nordiska Kompaniet, which opened in K M Lundberg's premises on Stureplan.

In 1904, the business was further developed, when Nordiska Kompaniet started its own furniture production. The large-scale workshops were moved to Lundberg's home town of Nyköping, and Nordiska Kompaniet soon came to occupy a leading position in Swedish furniture art. At most, the workshops employed around 500 people, where skilled craftsmen executed high-quality furniture designed by some of the most prominent designers of the time.

Judging by the low number range of the table, the furniture was designed around 1905, i.e. shortly after furniture manufacturing started in Nyköping. Although this early period involved some of the great names of the time, today it is difficult to identify individual designers, as the names were not used in marketing, and as most of the drawings of the time have been lost. Notable designers of the time include NK's first chief architect (1902-1917) David Blomberg, as well as historically important names such as Alf Wallander and Ferdinand Boberg - both of whom designed Art Nouveau works for the company.

Who designed the auction table has not been determined. It would be expected, however, that since Director Lundberg himself ordered a table from the workshops he had just set up in his home country, the assignment should have fallen to one of the Nordic Company's top officials.