Tea Trolley by Yngve Ekström, 1956

Yngve Ekström and his designs

Yngve Ekström (1913-1988) was born in Hagafors in Småland, Sweden, which happened to be where the country's oldest furniture industry was placed. He studied drawing, sculpture, painting, music and art history. With furniture virtually from his mother's milk, he started Swedese in 1945 and was leading the company right up until his death. His career coincided in time with the best part of the postwar modern movement and together with names including Alvar Aalto, Bruno Mathsson, Arne Jacobsen and Poul Kjaerholm he was at the core of a generation designers who made the concept "Scandinavian Modern" famous all over the world. The most well-known design of Yngve Ekström's extensive portfolio is the Lamino armchair from 1956, which is still manufactured and sold all over the world. In 1999 the Lamino was voted the "Twentieth Century's Best Swedish Furniture Design" by the Swedish interior magazine Sköna Hem. Ekström's furniture have been exhibited in Amsterdam, Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Munich and Belgrade, to name a few places, and are represented in many modern permanent collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London and Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.