Tomado or String shelf in gold metal and lacquered metal with wood effect.

Here is a wall shelf straight out of a house that has charmingly remained frozen in the 1950s to 1970s, perfect for making beautiful discoveries, with wicker furniture or Scandinavian style, orange formica for the kitchen... And this shelf seems to be a Tomado rather than a String. Very lightweight, modular, easy to disassemble and move, String shelves were designed by Kajsa and Nils Strinning for a competition launched by a Swedish publishing house to encourage book buying in 1949! Meanwhile, Tomado was created in 1958 by designer Adriaan Dekker, who was probably inspired by String. So practical and pretty, these two shelves enjoyed global success from the 1950s, a success that continues as Tomado production was even relaunched in 2016! They have been produced in numerous versions. This one features golden metal rod uprights and metal sheet shelves, but it also offers some unique qualities: the horizontal rods of the uprights are doubled, whereas usually only the vertical rods are, allowing multiple shelves to be assembled while keeping the shelves at the same levels, and this detail seems typical of Tomado. The shelves are made of lacquered metal but in a non-uniform colour: they mimic the grain of wood! This shelf is in generally good condition, with no deformation, intact welds on the uprights, and gold metal without corrosion, but it does show some signs of its age: small lacquer losses on two shelves, which can easily be "camouflaged" by placing them against the wall or even with a little restoration (a few brush strokes) and some minor marks that are not very visible. It measures 64 cm in width, 17 cm in depth, and the side uprights are 68 cm in height.