Bruno Mathsson Danish Modern Bentwood Eva Lounge Chair

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About the Item

Sculptural Bentwood “Eva” Model Lounge Chair, designed by Bruno Mathsson, Sweden, circa 1960s. It was retailed by The Scandinavian Design Store in NYC, one of the first retail stores bringing Scandinavian design to the United States market. See photo of original retailer’s tag. It is constructed of bentwood beech and canvas straps and comes with the sheepskin throw.Creator: Bruno Mathsson (Designer)Design: Eva ChairDimensions: Height: 33 in (83.82 cm)Width: 23.5 in (59.69 cm)Depth: 23 in (58.42 cm)Seat Height: 15 in (38.1 cm)Style: Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)Materials and Techniques: Beech,UpholsteryPlace of Origin: SwedenPeriod: 1960-1969Date of Manufacture: 1960sCondition: GoodWear consistent with age and use. Minor losses. Very good original condition. Some minor frays to canvas seat straps. Minor surface scratches, rubs, age spots, and wear commensurate with age and use.Seller Location: Atlanta, GAReference Number: 1stDibs: LU871843357572Shop All Bruno Mathsson

Bruno Mathsson

As the descendant of four generations of Swedish master cabinetmakers, Bruno Mathsson was born to design furniture. Mathsson was known as a methodical perfectionist who made usefulness the fundamental attribute of his iconic lounge chairs, tables, armchairs and other works, yet he was also a ceaseless experimenter, who constantly searched for improvements in form, materials and methods of design.

Like the Finnish designer Alvar Aalto, Mathsson was one of the first Scandinavians to embrace undulating, biomorphic forms in furniture. His early pieces such as the Eva and Pernilla series of chairs incorporate dramatically flowing bent beechwood frames, making them some of the most instantly recognizable works of 20th-century design.

Mathsson was also a pioneer of ergonomics he is said to have based the contours of his chairs on the impression his body made when he sat in a snow bank and used supple, accommodating woven webbing for seats. His concern for practicality is shown by pieces such as the Maria table. An elegant design with gate legs and hinged leaves, the table measures more than nine feet long when fully extended, but folds down to just nine inches in thickness.

From the mid-1940s through the 1950s, Mathsson focused on architecture, designing and building houses with insulated, triple-glazed window walls and heated floors construction that flew in the face of traditional wood-clad Swedish residential design, and consequently met with some skepticism. He returned to furniture in the 1960s, employing an entirely new suite of materials: Stainless-steel framing and mesh seats feature in pieces like the Jetson chair; with the mathematician Piet Hein, Mathsson designed the Super-Elliptical table, which has a laminate top and four-part tubular steel legs that sprout like flower stems from a single base.

Bruno Mathssons stylistic flexibility as a designer made him a creator whose pieces meet all tastes and needs.

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