“Liljan” Candleholders — Ivar Ålenius-Björk for Ystad-Metall, Sweden, Late 1940s

ONLY TWO STILL AVAILABLE

Few Scandinavian design objects have achieved the lasting cultural status of the “Liljan” or “Lily” candle holder. Designed in 1938 by Ivar Ålenius-Björk for Ystad-Metall, it was first presented to the world at the 1939 World Exhibition in New York. The flowing brass arches, rising from a simple round base like the leaves of a lily, are so instinctively right that they have been widely imitated ever since. Ystad-Metall’s attempts to protect the design came too late, and companies such as Ibe Konst and SM Svenska Metallverken produced their own versions. Today, the “Liljan” is still in production at Skultuna in Sweden — a testament to a design that has now endured for nearly ninety years.

What makes this set particularly special is its provenance. All four candleholders are original late 1940s pieces, each stamped with the designer’s initials and the Ystad-Metall logo as used during that period. These are the genuine article — not reproductions, not later editions, but early examples of one of Sweden’s most celebrated design icons.

They have not been polished, and we firmly believe that is the right choice. The patina that has developed over the past seven decades is extraordinary — warm, complex, and full of depth. It gives these four pieces a character that no freshly polished example can match. That said, if a buyer prefers a brighter finish, polishing is of course possible.

Ivar Ålenius-Björk was primarily a sculptor rather than an industrial designer, which perhaps explains why his work for Ystad-Metall feels so different from what came before it. He worked with the company for only around two years, but his influence was profound and lasting. He introduced the principles of Functionalism and Swedish Modernism to Ystad-Metall at a pivotal moment, reshaping not just their product range but the entire design direction the company would follow from the late 1940s onwards. The “Liljan” remains his most iconic legacy.