Svenskt Tenn reskins Josef Frank cabinets in horsehair for Standing Tall exhibition
For Stockholm Creative Edition, Swedish heritage brand Svenskt Tenn has unveiled an exhibition of cabinets by design icon Josef Frank, including a new edition of his Cabinet 522 in horsehair fabric.
On show in Svenskt Tenn's flagship Stockholm store, Standing Tall showcases six cabinets designed by the late Austrian-born architect and designer in the 1930s, 40s and 50s.
It will be on show throughout Stockholm Creative Edition, one of the main events taking place in lieu of the cancelled Stockholm Design Week.
The exhibition marks the launch of the new Cabinet 522 edition, which features a fine horsehair fabric woven at John Boyd Textiles in Somerset, England, in either black or white.
But it also tells a story about "the blend of utility and artistry that defined Josef Frank's work", according to Tora Grape, marketing and brand communications director at Svenskt Tenn.
"To Josef Frank, cabinets were works of both form and function – artworks created with the utmost attention to detail; he even designed the keys," she explained.
"With the spring exhibition, we want to offer insight into a foundational part of Josef Frank's design universe, presenting both the ideas and the craftsmanship behind his cabinets."
Presented against a theatrical backdrop of colourful curtains, the six featured cabinets share some characteristics.
All have tall legs, "designed to keep the meeting point between floor and wall visible", and are crafted from dark-toned woods with brass fittings, highlighting Frank's distaste for silver metals.
Cabinet 522 is the oldest of the designs, created between 1934 and 35, taking cues from British furniture traditions.
Cabinet 852, or the Flora Cabinet, is one of Frank's most recognisable designs. Clad with 115 botanical plates, its design was inspired by Svenskt Tenn founder Estrid Ericson's visit to the home of Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus.
A similar level of detail features on the Stockholm Cabinet, which is clad in an intricate hand-drawn map of the Swedish capital made by lithographer Heinrich Neuhaus in 1875.
Cabinets 881 and 2192 are both chests of drawers. The 881, designed in 1938, combines vavona burl veneer with a playful composition of 19 drawers, while the 10-drawer 2192, from 1957, mixes birch burl, elm and padouk woods.
Completing the show is the 1954-designed Cabinet 2192, which boasts an irregular ribbed front.
Previous Svenskt Tenn exhibitions include an apartment installation in Copenhagen designed to look like a real home and a colourful exhibition by French architect India Mahdavi.
Standing Tall is on show at Svenskt Tenn's Stockholm store until 29 March 2026. See Dezeen Events Guide for more design events taking place as part of Stockholm Creative Edition, which runs from 3 to 7 February 2026, and in the wider city.
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