A Nordic Style dream in London – chapter II

The beautiful chandeliers at Nordic Style

My favourite part about writing this blog is visiting a shop and being inspired to research an era – and then share the fascinating history with you.  This is exactly what happened at Nordic Style, when I came across a few pieces of their Gustavian-style furniture.

Gustavian pieces of furniture are absolutely beautiful and this also happened to be a very interesting time in the history of Swedish design.  It was in fact branched into two eras: Early Gustavian (Höggustaviansk stil) which held some streaks of rococo design and reigned in Sweden approximately from 1772 until 1785, and Late Gustavian style (Sengustaviansk stil) which took over in 1785 and lasted until 1810 and was far less elaborate in style (1).

Classic designs at Nordic Style

Höggustaviansk stil was introduced by King Gustav III, after he spent months at the court of Versailles and wanted to create his own “Paris of the North” upon his return to Sweden (2).  He ordered for his palaces to be redecorated in Louis XVI style, which meant that the dark Swedish winter evenings were suddenly lit up by gilded mirrors and beautifully designed crystal chandeliers.  The trend caught on quickly and soon town houses and country cottages of the more well-to-do families in Sweden were all decorated in Gustavian style – albeit a more rustic and homely interpretation than that of the King (3).

Nordic Style Chelsea, Swedish Interior

Sengustaviansk stil was characterised by strict shapes and less ornamental designs than Höggustavians stil.  France had previously been a great source of inspiration when it came to style and interior, but Sweden now turned to England for ideas – a natural result of the Franco-Swedish War in 1805-07.

The war is obviously a long story but in short Sweden wanted to help England get rid of the fierce Napoleon, when he pronounced himself king of Italy in 1805 and then rather ruthlessly executed young Louis Antoine Henri de Bourbon (4).  There was a lot of fighting back and fort that led to a strong opposition in Sweden towards everything French during this time.  The resistance was especially strong in Gustav IV Adolf’s circles and since they were the main trendsetters, their choices naturally affected design and style across the country.

Later in the 1800’s Provincial Gustavian style was made popular by Carl and Karin Larsson, which we learnt more about in the previous post: A Nordic Style dream in London – chapter I.

Old school Swedish kitchen sofa, Nordic Style, Chelsea, Swedish interior London

The piece of furniture that inspired me to write this blog piece on Nordic Style in the first place was this 18th century original Swedish settle.  For me it brings back such wonderful memories of a beautiful farmhouse that belonged to a friend’s family and where we spent a lot of time as children.  They had furniture very similar to this settle as they had kept the house close to its original style with stunning wooden floors, Windsor-style chairs, lots of red/white and blue/white chequered fabrics and of course chickens roaming in the garden!

Clever storage often used by the maid of the house 

These settles – or sofas – were common in Swedish homes a few hundred years ago, and you can still easily find them scattered around Swedish kitchens.  Back in the days there was often no padding in the backrest or – for some inexplicable reason – on the seat.  Small cushions would sometimes be used to make it a little bit softer though.  These pieces of furniture were often given to the maid in the house to use as a bed, if she didn’t have her own room.  She would keep her clothes and work outfits in the storage space under the seat – an excellent solution for teeny tiny modern day London flats if I may say so!

I am very happy to say that today it is completely acceptable to make your sofa lovely and comfortable by decorating it with cushions and pretty throws.  I would LOVE to have one of these in my kitchen one day, preferably in front of a window, by a big dining table similar to the ones that we can see above.  It would be a terribly comfy one though, as I can’t imagine anything less appealing than an uncomfortable sofa – no matter how traditional it is!

We have one more post coming about Nordic Style – and the previous one you can find here: A Nordic Style dream in London – chapter I.

Sources:

(1) Wikipedia – Gustaviansk Stil

(2) Inspirations from France and Italy by Betty Lou Philips

(3) ft.com – Interiors: the trend for Gustavian

(4) Encyclopaedia Britannica