A Pair of Mid-Century Ilmari Tapiovaara Teak Drawer Chests for Asko, 1950s

A very elegant pair of teak veneered drawer/sideboard chests designed by Ilmari Tapiovaara and manufactured by Asko in Finland in the 1950s. One of the most iconic designs by Ilmari Tapiovaara, who was one of the leading names in the golden age of Finnish design. Tapiovaara's designs won gold medals 5 times in the prestigious "Milano Triennale" exhibiton. Tapiovaara is known for his very minimalistic, functional yet elegant approach to designing furniture and light pieces. No surprise that this drawer cabinet displays all of these attributes.

The drawers are in good original condition with a beautiful dark patina. One still retains the Asko label.

Ilmari Tapiovaara gave a lot of attention to simplicity, functionality with attention to detail, and his works had modernistic tendencies from the beginning of his career. He studied furniture design at the Central School for Applied Arts in Helsinki 1933-1937. Tapiovaara was brought to the forefront of Finnish designers in an exhibition (Home Exhibition ´39) in 1939, so right at the start of his career. Asko dislayed a number of furnitures by Tapiovaara that concentrated on the problems of small and medium sized homes. The exhibition was soon closed of course because of the war. Tapiovaara was then assigned to designing and supervising the buildings and furniture needed by the army.

Tapiovaara considered a designer as a socially responsible actor, a 'physician' of our daily surroundings, whose talents should be used to help people with their day to day existence. In an article by Tapiovaara called 'A chair is not just a seat' it is the key to the interior decoration scheme. Tapiovaara stated that a piece of furniture must fit 2 schemes : it must satisfy the demands of a piece of furniture, and it must harmonize with the other objects around it.

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