The 20th-century design specialist Jacksons cares passionately about the creations that pass through its hands, while offering a rare level of personal service that is the polar opposite of mass consumption. Its new 400-square-metre showroom in Stockholm is a celebration of Scandinavian icons.
WORDS Hugo Macdonald PHOTOGRAPHY Erik Lefvander STYLING Cecilia Tivar
The story of Jacksons is one of relatively slow and clever growth, which is refreshing in our times of meteoric success stories that erupt, disrupt and disappear in a flash. The closest Paul Jackson has to an origin myth is his memory of the early days when he was travelling back and forth between Sweden and his native UK, selling in a more ad hoc fashion in pre-internet times, before the advent of feverish demand for Scandinavian design took hold. “It was less formal back then of course,” he remembers. “I had one client in England who asked if I could find any Swedish glass, so I returned to Stockholm and came back with two full carrier bags.”
Those times are long gone. Today, 20th-century Scandinavian design matches the Italian greats from the same period in value and popularity. In the past two decades, collectors’ awareness and appetite have grown exponentially, and Nordic Modern is now one of the most comprehensively sought after categories of design in the secondhand market. The world’s major auction houses (still with design departments) hold dedicated Scandinavian design auctions. Scandinavian design galleries show at fairs around the world. Open any US interior design publication and you will inevitably find vintage Hans J. Wegner, Bruno Mathsson and Finn Juhl more than once. For better or worse, mid-century Scandinavian design has become a global marker of good taste.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Jacksons has been at the vanguard of this development. Paul met Carina in Amsterdam, and together they moved to Stockholm in 1981, opening thei
