Spotlight on Swedish & Gustavian Antiques

King Gustav reigned in Sweden from 1772 to 1792. His reign - known as the Gustavian era or the Swedish Enlightenment - gave huge advancements in art, literature and design. King Gustav spent a significant amount of time in Paris and at the royal palace in Versailles. This experience left him determined to make Stockholm the ‘Paris of the North'. He was also heavily influenced by historical classical structures like the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Gustavian furniture marries Gustav's foreign French and Italian influences with long-standing Scandinavian ideals of refinement, simplicity, functionality and elegance. Like Canada, Swedish winters are long and dark. To remedy this, the colour palette of Swedish interior design is often light and bright, which is reflected in Gustavian style of furniture, i.e. the opposite to dark heavy many English antiques. The priority has always been to bring light into rooms, through pastel colour palettes, gilt and plenty of mirrors. Although Gustavian designs were simpler than many ornate Italian and French designs, they were well-executed designs and built for purpose. Function was a priority, which brought lots of corner cabinets, storage and console tables.

In the collection we have brought to Vancouver, you can see the pieces are purposeful in design, beautiful without being overwhelming and ornate, and softer in colour that fits beautifully in to smaller and contemporary homes.

Our collection of Swedish and Gustavian pieces are in excellent antique condition. They were made at a time when woodwork, metalwork and finishing was done by hand, including but not limited to wooden nails, dental moulding, vertical milling.

The photos below you can see examples of vertical milling on the door panels and beautiful "teeth" or dental moulding on the crown of this Gustavian wardrobe. Not to mention this piece offers excellent storage and would fit nicely into most homes with a footprint of approximately 77" tall x 32" wide x 21" deep.

We are sure you will love these special items as much as we do, and we say thanks to the Swedes!

Find more items on our website here.

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Resources & Credits:

Wikipedia

Tracey Ayton Photography

Freyia Dekor

Lordforks Antiques