David Ericsson renews his set of seating furniture with Hedwig

Furniture designer David Ericsson launches the Hedwig easy chair, which is based on craftsmanship and skill, simplicity and deep love and understanding for the opportunities offered by wood. Hedwig is an easy chair made in solid beech. The seat and back are upholstered in vegetable-tanned leather, or alternatively canvas. Hedwig the easy chair is a homage to the designer’s wife, who likes to read and drink tea. David Ericsson has placed great emphasis on the easy chair being a joy to sit in and the sculptured, rounded armrests are just the right size for a cup of tea.

The apparently simple construction also goes back to David Ericsson’s personal interest in past generations of designers and the furniture industry. Thus it is no surprise that David Ericsson names architect Axel Einar Hjorth as one of his great sources of inspiration. Despite Axel Einar Hjort having a relatively short career, he was chief architect at Nordiska Kompaniet 1927 – 1938 and designed his most important furniture over roughly a decade, it is precisely his craftsmanlike executed furniture that is greatly in demand and attains the highest prices on the second-hand market. In the same way, Hedwig represents an exclusive simplicity that only a designer with genuine skill and understanding for craftsmanship could successfully accomplish. The Hedwig easy chair is one entirely in the Gärsnäs spirit.

Hedwig product description:
Easy chair in solid beech. Back and seat in vegetable-tanned leather or alternatively upholstered in canvas.

Interview with David Ericsson:

Who is Hedwig?

Hedwig is an easy chair that’s been in my mind a long time. But it wasn’t until we refurbished our home and created a reading corner that I consciously started work on the chair in homage to my wife. She loves reading and drinking tea. So I wanted to make a lovely easy chair with a place for a cup of tea. Also, when my wife, Sara, was a little girl, she wanted to be called Hedwig. Now she has her very own.

How does Hedwig relate to tradition?

Hedwig is an easy chair with several interesting historical references to designers such as Axel Einar Hjorth, Børje Mogensen and Carl-Axel Acking. Perhaps most of all to Axel Einar Hjorth. He was the chief architect at Nordiska Kompaniet during a pivotal era, the period between Art Deco and Modernism and the transition from artisanal to industrial production. He was active during a permissive time: details one discards today in favour of industrial rationalisation were still allowed back then. Another similarity with Axel Einar Hjorth is his work with wooden frames and stretched leather. I have developed Hedwig the same way.

What makes seating furniture so special?

A chair is made for a human, yet it is not something necessary for one’s survival. Actually, it is the chair that asks for company. Therefore, the human must be persuaded to need the chair and you must design it to be needed and loved.

Test sit the Hedwig easy chair at the Gärsnäs stand A11:20, Stockholm Furniture Fair 9 – 13 February.
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