FabrikantSwedish
Einar Bäckström
3 actieve items
Einar Bäckströms Metallvarufabrik was founded in Malmö in 1918 by brothers Einar Bäckström (1889-1978) and Sune Bäckström, both trained chasers, craftsmen skilled in the hammering and shaping of metal by hand. From the start, the workshop focused on electric lighting fixtures at a time when electrification was still spreading through Swedish homes and public buildings. The company's headquarters, factory, and showroom occupied premises on Föreningsgatan 8 in Malmö, with an additional retail space on Hamngatan.
All patterns were designed in-house: according to the Malmö Museum, every model was composed by Einar Bäckström himself. The company's early production followed Art Deco conventions, with ceiling fixtures and floor lamps in brass featuring geometric ornamentation and finish options including green oxidation, gold antique treatment, and lacquer. A signature product type was a round ceiling fixture combining downward direct lighting with upward indirect illumination toward the ceiling, a practical and aesthetically considered solution for domestic interiors.
In the 1930s the firm became an authorized producer of the Sistrah fixture, a modular pendant system designed by the German engineer Otto Müller that had become a standard in progressive Scandinavian interiors. This gave the company a foothold in the contract and institutional market alongside its residential output. Table lamp models 5013 and 5014, produced from the 1940s, are among the most recognizable pieces associated with the firm today. These lamps combine brass construction with leather-wrapped stems and fabric shades, representing a restrained Swedish Modern sensibility that balanced warmth of material with functional clarity of form.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the company collaborated with glass artist Erik Höglund, who was then working for Boda Glasbruk. Pendant lamps from this collaboration paired Bäckström's brass fixtures with Höglund's cast glass reliefs in clear and red glass, producing some of the more visually striking pieces from either party's output. The company continued producing lighting until it closed in 1975, after 57 years of operation. Einar Bäckström himself died in 1978.
On the Nordic secondary market, Bäckström pieces appear most frequently at Swedish regional auction houses, Kolonn, Effecta, and Stadsauktion Sundsvall among the leading venues based on the 83 recorded items on Auctionet. Brass floor lamps, table lamps, and pendant fixtures make up the bulk of offerings. The top recorded sale of 8,000 SEK reflects the market reality: well-preserved midcentury Bäckström lamps find a steady collector base, particularly the leather-and-brass table lamp models and the Höglund collaboration pendants, which tend to attract the strongest interest.