Svenskt Tenn’s classic cushions are loved all over the world; from Stockholm to New York and Shanghai.
Svenskt Tenn’s founder Estrid Ericson travelled a lot to different places around the world. She always looked for beautiful items and textiles that she could take home and sell in the store on Strandvägen in Stockholm. The Körsbär textile is from the English textile company GP & J Baker, whose designs were often based on traditional historical prints. Estrid Ericson began buying textiles from them as early as the 1930s.
Körsbär (original name "Eldon") was designed by Turner in 1920 when the "art deco" movement was in the upswing. Here, he takes the traditional "bird and branch" motif further toward the modern taste by simplifying shapes and colours. The name may have come from GP & J Baker's travels in the Netherlands, where there is a village called Elden, marking its contrast with L'don (London). In Old English, the name can mean "old friend," which seems especially appropriate to this pattern which has been an enduring favourite.
Designer
GP & J Baker/Svenskt Tenn
Svenskt Tenn developed this design using GP & J Baker's fabric.
GP & J Baker is a family-run company founded in 1884 by brothers George Percival and James Baker. Together with their father they travelled around the Far East and Asia purchasing designs, textiles, sketches and thousands of pattern books that are today in the Baker’s sizeable textile archives. Svenskt Tenn became one of Baker’s first customers in Sweden when Josef Frank, inspired by Baker’s designs, introduced the company to Estrid Ericson in the 1930s.