Sigvard Bernadotte

In a career spanning more than 70 years, the artist, silversmith and industrial designer Sigvard Bernadotte worked at Georg Jensen in Copenhagen and in his own company in Stockholm. Sigvard Bernadotte’s contribution to modern industrial design is extensive. Along with others of his generation, in 1957 he founded SID - Föreningen Svenska Industridesigner (the association of Swedish industrial designers) – which is still active and has over 300 members. The design of lorry cabs, coffee pots, dinner services, calculators, Perstorp patterns and plastic pots – nothing was outside Sigvard Bernadotte’s range – but, like the artist he was, trained 1929–1931 at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, perhaps he stands as a stunning silverware artist. Candle holders, urns, church silver or jewellery – Sigvard Bernadotte’s sense of pure form in a classic material brought great attention at a New York exhibition in 1939 and was an important part of an impressive life’s work.