Skultuna

About

Skultuna 1607

Story

Timeless design & Timeless Quality

For over 400 years Skultuna has produced brass and sterling silver objects of the highest quality for both everyday use and for special occasions. Always with that same sense of quality, function and design Skultuna today creates tomorrow’s antiques.

Four centuries in the same place

The year was 1607, and King Karl IX could at last implement his long held plans for a Swedish brass industry. During the time of Gustav Wasa and Erik XIV, Sweden had become indebted to the Hanseatic League. Refining copper into brass would reduce imports of brass and increase income from exports. The King had a man sent off on the Crown's business to find a suitable location for a brass foundry, the choice fell on Skultuna, where the Svartån brook provided sufficient water power. Charcoal was available here as well and the copper mine at Falun was also close. Today, over four centuries later, the company still resides in the very same place in Skultuna. The first master braziers were called here from the brass foundries in Germany and the Netherlands, they also brought the technique on how to make large brass objects like chandeliers. The oldest known chandelier is in the Church of Our Lady in Enköping and is dated 1619. The journey throughout history has been rough at times, once the whole mill floated away with the spring flood and it has also burnt down completely at three occasions.

Form, design and vision

In the 15th and 16th century, the design work was part of the craftsmanship, and some of the craftsmen’s skills were judged on both design and quality of the product. At the end of 17th century, processes and work methods were standardized. This was the foundation of what we call industry design today. It is still the styling of the designers and our very skilled craftsmen that are the most important source of new products. Carl Hjalmar Norrström was a designer at the Skultuna Brass Foundry between the years 1895-1912. Norrström belonged to the most recognized designers at that time and was granted many awards for his creations. Carl Hjalmar won the Gold medal at the World Expo in Paris during the year 1900 for his magnificent baptizing font. This can be seen at the Skultuna museum in Skultuna, Sweden. After his studies at the Art Academy in Stockholm, Norrström went to Paris to study. He became one of many famous artists in the colony, together with well-known artists like Carl Larsson. Carl Hjalmar Norrström is recognized as one of the first and foremost Swedish designers together with Gunnar Wennerberg, Gustavsberg and Alf Wallander, Rörstrand. The Silversmith Pierre Forssell is one of the latest designers that was employed by the Brass Foundry. He contributed with some fabulous products during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. His designs are very much characterized as Scandinavian: strict and contemporary in style. Another famous designer that has created products for Skultuna is Sigvard Bernadotte. He designed a lot of products for the dining table.

Today Skultuna works with the internationally renowned Swedish designers like Thomas Sandell and Claesson Koivisto Rune, the latest design collaboration is with the successful Italian designer Luca Nichetto who has designed a bowl called Timeline inspired by the door-knobs of his hometown of Venice. Timeline was exhibited in the Stockholm and Milan furniture fairs in the spring of 2011. The production in the factory in Skultuna is continuing in an unbroken line since 1607, every year about five hundred chandeliers are built, a couple of thousand candlesticks are mounted and polished, thousands of cuff links are packaged and shipped around the world. Skultuna has five different product lines today: Classic, Designer, Cuff Links, Charms and Christmas.

Tourism & The Factory Shops

Skultuna is one of the most visited tourism attractions in Sweden with over 150 000 visitors each year. In Skultuna, tourists can visit the museum, the café and the factory shops that recently have been opened in the old factory buildings. The Factory shops sell products from over twenty Swedish companies, visit www.skultunafabriksbutiker.se to learn more about visiting us.