Antique Swedish Art Deco Armchairs – how were they made?
Antique Swedish Art Deco Armchairs are a perennial design masterpiece and with good reason.
They have a design ethos that is both futuristic and traditional, marrying elements of both styles into a unique blend that defies the ages and cannot be pigeon-holed.
The futuristic designs of the 1920s-1940s Art Deco movement paved the way for Swedish Modern and current modern design and so fit very well with those type of interiors as well as traditional Art Deco or Biedermeier ones.
The construction of the classic Antique Swedish Art Deco Armchair usually follows a fairly set pattern.
The frame of the Antique Swedish Art Deco Club chair is usually made from finger jointed birch and it was proper dry wood rather than the quick grown rubbish that passes for wood now. This is one reason why we find the Antique Swedish Art Deco Armchairs in such good condition – that and tehfact that wood worm doesnt like the cold Swedish Climate.
Whereas the equivalent age of french furniture piece is likely to have been riddled with woodworm, the Swedish ones are not.
Across the bottom of the frame you will find a fully sprung seat, properly made the traditional way with 5″ copper coil springs in a lattice of twine, supported with webbing and a stuffed seat comprising usually horsehair and fibre. The depth of the seat is what makes Antique Swedish Art Deco Armchairs so incredibly comfortable to sit and gives them the characteristic deep front of the seat.
The bacl pad is again deep and fully stuffed for maximum comfort supported by webbing.
The decorative elements usually include a pair of immaculate bentwood arm fascias usually in golden birch and finished in a honey or mid oak french polish and either square or more rarely lions feet or fluted feet of varying height.
Occasionally in the ‘alcoholiste’ variant of the Antique Swedish Art Deco Armchair , you will get a fluted back which is then decorated with upholsterers rope for effect.
Design-wise you often also find double piping used for decoration often in a contrasting colour which looks great.
You can see Europe’s largest selection of Antique Swedish Art Deco Armchairs here.
