Funny, It Doesn’t Look Swedish Modern

Did Swedish modern furniture always look so unadorned?

Not in the early modernism period between 1840 and 1940, when craftsmen used elegant woods, mostly blond birch, highlighted with rosewood and mahogany inlays and marquetry.

“Most people associate Scandinavian furniture with the Danish-Swedish teakwood look, which is starkly modern,” said Andrew Wilder, who specializes in this unusual niche of early modernism. “This is a beautiful middle ground between contemporary and traditional furniture.”

The chairs, tables and lamps that fill his compact store, Svenska Mobler (Swedish Furniture) on La Brea Avenue look like showy cousins to Swedish modern. They share the same clean wood lines but are distinguished by lighter woods and more detailing.

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The Swedish furniture produced in this period was only for the domestic market and not exported, according to Wilder. A native New Yorker, Wilder, 36, discovered the furniture when he moved to Sweden after high school to help friends start an independent record company.

“I’ve always been interested in furniture and design, and I was amped up by living in Sweden,” he said. “I started collecting the furniture and decided to make this my livelihood.” He first started the business in Portland as a by-appointment showroom and Web site (https://www.svenskamobler.com). He then moved to Los Angeles because he needed a bigger city for a retail store, which he opened in April.

Wilder says his focus on early modernism is unusual, even for Sweden, where the favored looks are modern pop pieces such as Italian Lucite, or minimalist teak. “Even my friends don’t know much about this period.

“The pieces I’m buying are not antiques, but they are amazingly decorative.” Prices range from a few hundred dollars for small items to as much as $7,000 for a couch or special set of dining chairs.

He has a network of suppliers in Sweden who are scouting for the kind of period furniture he wants, and he makes periodic trips to “look at lots and

lots of stuff.”

Wilder has arranged the furniture in vignettes in his Svenska Mobler showroom to show its versatility.

“For people looking to bring more richness into their interiors, these pieces have breadth in terms of possibility.”

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Eames-mania continues: The Los Angeles Modern Auction on Beverly Boulevard reports that its special July 9 Eames auction of mid-century designs by Charles and Ray Eames set world record prices for five items.

Leading off was a prototype postwar armchair that sold for $107,000.

Elsewhere, “The Work of Charles and Ray Eames: A Legacy of Invention” continues through Sept. 10 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.