My inherited Aalto secretary desk.
Stamp on back says "Aalto Design" "Made in Sweden" "802"
Now that it's in a prominent location,instead of hiding in our (unused) dining room, I'm loving looking at it every day!
<img class="wpforo-default-image-attachment wpforoimg" src=" 
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I do not want...
to disturb a nice party but...it does not say Aalto design but Aalto desken made in Sweden. As far as I know, Alvar Aalto did not design this otherwise very nice looking secretary desk...he was quite comitted to the development of the finnish industry and I doubt he would have designed for a Swedish company.
koen
This is not the first time I have seen this stamp. The other pieces that I have seen did appear to be more common Aalto designs. For example,
"Alvar Aalto occasional table, by Artek, c.1940, birch top over bentwood legs, stamped "Alvar Aalto Made in Sweden", original finish, 24"w x 24"d x 22"h some wear to top, very good original condition"
This is an Aalto desk. My fol...
This is an Aalto desk. My folks bought it, in Chicago,between 1947 and 1955 (at which time we moved to CT). The desk does indeed say "Design" and not "Desken"... I remember it as a small child in the 1950's and have old photos of it in our house. I did send photos to the Aalto museum in Finland & hope to hear back from them. (ha!) I think the orange patina of the wood would be enough to prove it's Aalto..
Comments edited 10/28 as much info found since posted.
Aalto was original partner of Artek in Sweden in the mid-1940's - this was due to lack of materials in Finland after the war. More info in future comments on this.
Mystery solved!
From an article about Aalto & MIT's Baker House, here is a quote that clears up the issue about my mom's desk -seems Koen doesn't know of Aalto's Artek factory in Sweden:
"The dorm's iconic furniture, including its' elephant wardrobes, giraffe shelving units, and bent-plywood chairs, were designed by Aalto and his wife and partner, Aino, and built at the architect's Artek factory in Sweden."
Here's the link to the article:
http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:J8YOB5TNRoEJ:www.metropolismag.com/s...
what would do it for me....
..is that the lower part of the legs would not be laminated. Aalto and Artek or more specifically the technical director:Otto Korhonen introduced this hybrid technology of just cutting slots at the end of the pieces they wanted to bend, and cut them at different heights so the bend would not start in one particular place. The groves were filled with wooden strips and than bend. It is a nice way of not laminating the straight parts. If that is the case with your secretary desk it would be a very solid and convincing feature. I hope it is becaus eit is indeed a very nice piece.
According to Sigrid Eklund...
According to Sigrid Eklund Nyström's book about swedish furniture designer Margaretha Köhler's firm 'Futurum'; Aalto's furniture were sold in Sweden as early as in the mid 1930's by architect Sture Frölén and it was also sold through G.A Berg's store in Stockholm.
By 1936 Sture Frölen had established 'Svenska Artek' (Swedish Artek) and Futurum carried their line of Aalto furniture. What is interesting is that Futurum also ordered custom Aalto pieces, which was then manufactured locally in Stockholm. This is as early as 1936, so I don't think it's such a long stretch to think that a Aalto piece from the late 1940's could very well have been made in Sweden...
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