Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Swedish furniture designer Axel Einar Hjorth created tables, chairs, cabinets and other pieces that were as elegant as they were functional, and he frequently worked in references to a litany of inspirations including French Art Deco, Gustavian style and modernism. Ahead of his time, his style was refined and daringly simple.
Born in Krokek, Sweden, Hjorth grew up in a foster family and at 20 moved to Stockholm where he studied architecture and design at the Högre Konstindustriella Skolan (now the University of Arts, Crafts & Design). Although he dropped out when his foster father died, he went on to work for some of the largest furniture manufacturers in Sweden during the 1920s.
Hjorth’s work was featured in the 1923 Gothenburg Exhibition world’s fair, and he exhibited a birch and cherry cabinet in the 1927 “Swedish Contemporary Decorative Arts” exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. His role as the head of the furniture department at Nordiska Kompaniet (NK), an upscale department store in Stockholm, from 1927 to 1938, further brought his designs to widespread acclaim, including pieces exhibited at the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition.
At the 1930 Stockholm Exhibition, an influential event in the emergence of functionalism in Swedish design, Hjorth exhibited a dozen room settings that featured examples of sportstugemöbler. These furniture lines were named for islands in Sweden’s archipelago — Utö, Blidö and Torö — with designs intended for cabins and vacation homes. The use of solid Swedish pine in these pieces revealed a love of traditional rustic furniture while the simple forms boldly looked to the future. He also brought his eclectic influences to armchairs formed from tubular metal, blocky case pieces made from birch and upholstered sofas with neoclassical details, each exuberantly mixing form and function.
Find vintage Axel Einar Hjorth furniture today on 1stDibs.
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Wrought Iron
1920s Swedish Art Deco Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Birch
1940s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Pine
1920s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Birch
1930s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Iron
1930s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Oak
1920s Swedish Art Deco Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Mahogany
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Pine
Early 20th Century Swedish Art Deco Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Birch
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Nickel
Early 20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Birch
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Pine
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Iron
Early 20th Century Swedish Art Deco Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Birch
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Leather, Oak
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Birch
Early 20th Century Swedish Art Deco Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Birch
1930s Swedish Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Iron
20th Century Swedish Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Birch
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Mahogany
Late 20th Century Rustic Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Brass
Early 20th Century Swedish Folk Art Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Pine
1920s Swedish Art Deco Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Glass, Birch
Mid-20th Century Danish Art Deco Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Brass
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Pine
Early 19th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Antique Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Pine
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Fruitwood
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Birch
1940s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Brass
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Pine
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Brass
Early 20th Century Swedish Art Deco Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Birch
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Pine
1920s Swedish Art Deco Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Wood, Birch
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Birch, Macassar
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Pine
1920s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Birch
1920s Swedish Art Deco Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Birch
1930s Scandinavian Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Pine
1920s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Birch
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Pine
1920s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Birch
1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Axel Einar Hjorth Cabinets
Pine