The history of Lindome furniture

Swedish Chair Carving

The area of Lindome is in a part of Sweden much further south than Stockholm where a lot of 17th and 18th century Swedish furniture was crafted. The Lindome dates run from around 1740 to 1850.  

At the beginning of the 18th century, Gothenburg, Sweden had strong trade relations with Great Britain and The Netherlands. A number of mechant families had British roots and were very much influenced by English style and as a result, customers in Sweden were able to purchase British chairs and sofas.  But the importation of furniture came to an end in the early 1730s with a direct ban by the Swedish King Charles’s courtiers.

In the town of Lindome, which translates as ‘home of heather’, wise middle-class farmers who were finding the poor soil, largely covered in heather poor to grow crops on, started to look to the woodland pines to provide them with a ‘crop’ with which to create high quality furniture, send it up to Gothenberg to be shipped to discerning customers in Holland and Great Britain. 

The fruit, flowers and hop carving was the typical tradition of Lindome made chairs as the insignia carving, always on the top of the back of the dining chair and variably also in the central part of the seat frame at the front.

Originally made by carpenters who left the wood unpainted, many chairs at later dates were painted and today you will now see these Swedish dining chairs and occasional chairs scraped back by antiques dealers to their original wood patina as well as finding painted chairs still.  It is said that because the chairs were transported on carts along rough ground and roads that the Lindome craftsmen left them bare of paint so that there was no risk of paint chipping and scratching along the journey.

The original style of chair was crafted in perhaps 12 or more pieces which were then pegged or pinned into created holes and fixed in.  Although this may seem a somewhat simple way to make furniture, the chairs were highly regarded by well-connected families.  

Lindome and other Swedish chairs available in pairs, fours, sixes and eights on our website.  We can source Swedish dining chairs for your table length requirements.