Bruno Mathsson was born to cabinet making. His father, Karl Mathsson was the fifth generation in a family of master cabinet makers. It was natural that Bruno should follow in his father ‘s footsteps and from an early age he was taught the necessary skills acquiring a well developed feeling for the characteristics of wood as well as a solid technical knowledge.

For Bruno Mathsson this simply was not enough. From a young age, he was fascinated by the challenge of designing functional furniture combined with high technical quality and it was the ideas of the functionalist movement that were to inspire him.In 1929, came the opportunity to borrow books and magazines from Röhsska Arts and Crafts Museum in Gothenburg and its curator Gustaf Munthe became a contact who was to have an influence on Bruno Mathsson ‘s career. Soon large boxes filled with books were sent by train between Gothenburg and Värnamo and Bruno Mathsson educated himself through detailed study.

In 1930, Värnamo hosted an Arts and Crafts exhibition where the Karl Mathsson workshop showed a traditional baroque-style chair worked on by Bruno Mathsson. The chair won Bruno Mathsson a scholarship and with it the opportunity to visit the exhibition in Stockholm that saw the launch of the Swedish functionalist movement.