Swedish Crystal from Målerås

Swedish crystal and glass is world famous and visitors to Stockholm often purchase some crystal (candleholders, vases, tableware, glasses, art peieces, etc.) to take home with them, whether for themselves or as presents for loved ones. There are several large crystal manufacturers/glassworks in Sweden, with Målerås, Kosta Boda and Orrefors being some of the larger and more well known. The Målerås Flagship Store opened recently in Stockholm and I had the opportunity to visit it a few days ago.

Like most of the Swedish crystal manufacturers, Målerås was founded, and is still based, in southern Sweden. In fact, that area of Sweden is called Glasriket ("Kingdom of Glass") because of the high concentration of glassworks located there. Målerås was founded in 1890 and first made everyday items like window panes and medicine bottles before moving to more decorative and creative items. All of Målerås' crystal and glass is handmade in Sweden using different techniques, like casting and blowing.

As Målerås currently has 8 different designers, their crystal and glassware can vary somewhat in aesthetic and design... meaning that they have something for most tastes and sensibilities! Some of their more popular items are cast and painted glass with floral and fauna motifs. I particularly liked their series with a Swedish birch forest motif and I am sure their pieces with the iconic Swedish Dala Horse are very popular. Another series I enjoyed were the "Masq" decanter and champagne flutes.

Dala horses...

The reason I was invited to the store was that they were unveiling their latest designer Anna Kraitz and her "Padam" series. I quite liked the series of vases and candleholders in interesting colors... like moss green, bright yellow, white and sand. The artist was there and explained that this was her first time working with glass as a medium. Hopefully she will expand her series with even more items.

Padam candle holder

On the high end of the scale, they have larger pieces of crystal fused with metal. Many of these peices have mythological themes and are quite striking. The store even has a downstairs gallery, which you can visit, and see most of these larger pieces. A good thing to know is that, if you are a non European Union resident, you can purchase your items here tax free (you get the sales tax refunded when you leave the EU). The store also offers to ship items home for you in case you are travelling on from Stockholm and don't want to carry the items with you on your trip.

"Nordman"- iron & crystal

The Målerås Flagship Store is located on the pedestrian street Drottninggatan in the downtown area, close to where the street crosses over into Gamla Stan (the old town). The easiest way to get there from the Hotel Rival is by subway to T-Centralen (3 stops on the red line) and then exit to Segels Torg. Or else it is a 30 minute walk through Gamla Stan or a 5-6 minute taxi ride. They do also have the Målerås Crystal Gallery and Mats Jonasson Concept Store in Gamla Stan and you can find Målerås crystal in most fine crystal stores in the city. And if you are thinking that it would be fun to try your hand at glass blowing, you can do that at Skansen! Click here for more information about this fun activity and to read about my visit there.

Downstairs gallery

Masq series