Art Déco

Sweden in the 1920s was shaped by numerous social movements and reforms. The foundations of the "Folkhemmet" welfare state were being laid, and the "Egnahemsrörelsen" – a movement promoting private home ownership – was gaining momentum. At the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the international style later known as Art Deco made its breakthrough.
Art Deco was characterized by a blend of traditionalism and avant-garde elements, combining fine craftsmanship, luxurious materials, and a classicizing formal language with industrial methods and the utopian aesthetics of the machine age. As the 1920s gave way to the 1930s, a period marked by economic depression and looming war, a new style rooted in Germany’s Bauhaus school gained ground across Europe.
With the help of industry and modern materials, the goal was to produce affordable and practical goods for the masses. Function was to take precedence over form. In Sweden, this new direction – Functionalism – had its major breakthrough at the Stockholm Exhibition of 1930. While early Functionalism shared stylistic traits with Art Deco, it gradually evolved into more of a design methodology with ideological underpinnings than a style per se.
This auction features over 70 period-typical pieces – furniture, lighting, bronzes, glass and ceramics – from these two defining decades.
Welcome to explore the catalogue and acquire a piece of design history!