Antique Furniture from Norway

Henrik Lorentzen Bech

The Norwegian furniture pieces includes a Rococo bureau by Henrik Lorentzen Bech (c. 1718-1776), who was a Danish-born sculptor and wood carver known for his work in Norway and for his contribution to the development of the Norwegian Rococo style.

Around 1750 Bech began working as a sculptor for Moss Jernverk ironworks in Østfold, Norway, where he provided the ornamental designs for the cast-iron wood-burning stoves and fireplace firebacks. The designs were carved by Bech in wood and made into cast iron moulds. Bech’s Rococo designs are highly plastic and are inspired by motifs by the artists François Boucher and Charles Joseph Natoire. Cast-iron oven plates from several Norwegian ironworks have been attributed to Bech.

The carved decorations of Kongsberg Church in Norway are generally held to be Bech’s best work and an epitome of the Norwegian Rococo style. Although many attributions have been suggested, few pieces can with certainty be attributed to Bech, the bureau up for auction being one of the special few.

The auction includes several other remarkable Rococo pieces from Norway, such as a Rococo giltwood console, a painted Rococo table, a Rococo oak bureau cabinet from the mid-18th century and a Rococo three-seat sofa made in Bergen around 1760.

The Falsen Cabinet (‘Falsenskapet’)

The provenance of one of the Norwegian furniture pieces up for auction is particularly interesting, since the cabinet known as the Falsen Cabinet (‘Falsenskapet’) is named after the Norwegian politician and magistrate Carl Valentin Falsen. Falsen was born in 1787 in Kristiania and raised in Copenhagen. Following his return to Norway in 1808, he became an important figure in Norwegian politics and an advocate of Norwegian independence.

Falsen was a member of the Norwegian parliament, Stortinget, from 1821 and served in various postings and political offices until his death in 1852. Falsen was the brother of Christian Magnus Falsen (1782-1830), who drafted the 1814 Norwegian constitution of independence.

Auction and Preview

The preview of the furniture pieces will take place at Bredgade 33 from Thursday, 24 November until Monday, 28 November, and the furniture will be auctioned off on Friday, 2 December.

View the auction's furniture from Norway here

View the auctions fine art and antiques here