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Pierre Forssell
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Pick up a Pierre Forssell candlestick and the first thing you notice is the weight, solid brass, warm to the touch, with a surface that catches light in ways only hand-finished metal can. For over thirty years, Forssell shaped the identity of Skultuna Messingsbruk, one of the world's oldest continuously operating brass foundries, transforming a company rooted in 17th-century tradition into a beacon of Scandinavian modernist design. Born in Stockholm in 1925, he trained as a silversmith at Konstfack, receiving his journeyman's certificate in 1949 before taking a teaching position at the same institution, where he spent much of the 1950s instructing the next generation of metalworkers.
Forssell's career as an industrial designer began in parallel, working for the Eskilstuna cutlery manufacturer Gense from 1952 to 1964. There he designed the Piruett swivel carving fork, presented at the legendary H55 exhibition in Helsingborg in 1955 and launched commercially in 1959, as well as the Spectra flatware series in 1961. H55 proved a career breakthrough: the clean modernist lines of his cutlery attracted international attention and established him as a designer of uncommon precision. But it was his appointment as artistic director of Skultuna in 1955 that would define his legacy.
At Skultuna, founded by royal decree in 1607, Forssell found both a material and a mission. Brass had been the foundry's medium for centuries, but Forssell gave it a distinctly modern, linear form. His design philosophy was spare and sculptural: functional objects elevated through geometric clarity, subtle proportional refinement, and a meticulous attention to how light and shadow play across polished surfaces. The Variabel candleholder, with its diagonal sliding arm that keeps the entire candle visible as it burns, exemplifies his approach, a simple mechanical idea made elegant through precise engineering. The Kronvas (Crown Vase), with its eight decorative crown points rising from a cylindrical body, became an icon of Swedish brass design. His Aniara candlesticks, Pendel and Reflex wall sconces, and numerous table lamps all remain in production today, testament to designs that have outlived their era without losing their freshness.
Beyond domestic objects, Forssell designed ecclesiastical commissions, crosses, altar candlesticks, and sacred furnishings in modernist brass for churches across Sweden. A comprehensive monograph, "Formgivaren Pierre Forssell: silversmide, industridesign, skulptur i mässing," was published by Thomas Lindblad through Appell Förlag in 2020, cementing his place in Swedish design history. His works are held by the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. He died in 2004.
On the Swedish auction market, Forssell's brass designs for Skultuna are a consistent presence, with 132 lots recorded on Auctionist across houses including Crafoord Auktioner, Auktionshuset Kolonn, Bidstrup, and Göteborgs Auktionsverk. Lighting accounts for the largest share of lots, followed by silver and metals and candlesticks. His brass table lamps command the highest prices, with top results reaching 16,360 SEK, while candleholders and wall sconces trade steadily in the 3,000 to 6,000 SEK range. For collectors of Scandinavian mid-century design, Forssell's Skultuna pieces represent a rare combination: objects designed with the rigour of fine silversmithing, produced by a foundry with over four centuries of history, and still quietly functional in any modern interior.