Posts Tagged ‘furniture designer’

MODERNISM
CHAIRS
AS FURNITURE PRODUCTION steadily
shifted emphasis from craft-based manufacturing to industrial methods, so the look of the chair changed dramatically Ornament was doggedly erased from designs as structure became more important to the aesthetic look. Solid wood began to fall from favour (too expensive and inflexible) as moulded plywood and tubular steel stepped into the spotlight.
Just as the notion of open-plan space was creeping into Western architecture, so furniture was freed from fulfilling just one function. Chairs became
increasingly ambiguous, with some made for indoor and outdoor use, and others equally at home in an office or dining room. Chairs became lighter, too, as they were frequently moved around the house.
With mass production in mind, designers began to concentrate their efforts on fixtures. The aim became
to produce a chair made of a minimum number of components that fitted together easily and quickly It’s no surprise, then, that the cantilever chair became so popular, as the continuous loop of legs and base eradicated the need for numerous nuts and bolts.
While the structure of the chair became increasingly celebrated in its design, as opposed to any stylistic conceits, so the designer as an
individual receded into the background. Industry became more important than art, as designers sought to express nothing more romantic than the manufacturing process.
The reason the chair dominated the focus of designers’ effort`_ is because a person’s emotional attachment is far greater to a chair than to, say, a shelving unit. If Modernist designers wanted to alter their audience’s emotional and intellectual outlook, it was through the chair that they tried to do so.
The slender armrests display a use of cushioning that is rare fora chair by Marcel Breuer.
The steel struts beneath the seat have been bowed so they cannot be felt by the sitter.
The chair is made from non-reinforced tubular steel, thereby making it less rigid.
B34 CHAIR WITH ARMS
The frame of this cantilever chair is made from one continuous loop of tubular steel. Although the base looks as though it is all in contact with the floor, the side pieces bend slightly so that only the corners touch the floor — the idea
being that most floors are slightly uneven and the smallest change in level would make the chair wobble. This chair has arms with elbow supports, and a blue canvas seat and back. Designed by Marcel Breuer and produced by Thonet. 1928. H:85cm (33Vzin); W.57.5cm (22Vain); D:63cm (24-Xin), Qu I
This armchair was inspired by a model made by Alvar Aalto. The chair’s seat and back are made from a single sheet of laminated wood and sit within an oak open-arm frame. H:76cm (30in) CA
LANDI CHAIR
This easy chair comprises a series of square-section planks of pine, joined by wooden dowels. It has a slatted section on both seat and chair back. Designed by Hein Stolle. c.1930. BonBay 2
SIDE CHAIR
The seat and back of this early cantilevered chair are made of ebonized moulded plywood and sit on a chrome-plated tubular-steel frame. The armrests are ebonized beech. Mart Stam for Thonet. c.1930. BonBay 2
ZIG-ZAG CHAIR
One of a pair, this chair has a tubular-steel frame reminiscent of Rietveld’s Zig-Zag chair. The wooden seat is supported on steel rods and has a later vinyl cover. H: 82.5cm (321in); W.41.5cm (161in); D:63.5cm (25in). Qu I
Lightweight and durable, this stacking chair is made from pressed and bent aluminium. Each armrest and pair of legs is from one piece of aluminium. Hans Coray. 1938. H: 76cm (290); W.51cm (19in); D:55cm (21in). BonBay 2
CLUB CHAIR
AALTO-INSPIRED CHAIR
EASY CHAIR
The rectilinear frame is made from stained pearwood secured with brass fittings. The chair is upholstered in hand-woven woolen fabric. Peter Keler, Bauhaus Weimar. 1925. H:69cm (27in); W.62cm (24V:ln); D:68cm (26%0). WKA
LOUNGE CHAIR
CANTILEVERED ARMCHAIR
One of a pair, this armchair has a tubular-chrome frame and seat with cushions upholstered in a dark brown, brushed fabric with red trim. The armrests are black-enamelled. H:86.5cm (34in). SDR I
Designed by Gilbert Rohde, this cantilevered armchair has a bright chrome base and black laminated armrests. The cushions are upholstered in ivory leather with a black trim. H:94cm (37in). SDR 1
THE STACKING CHAIR
STILL FOUND IN CAFES WORLDWIDE, THIS ICONIC DESIGN IS PERHAPS THE FIRST STACKING CHAIR, AND CERTAINLY THE FIRST WIDESPREAD DESIGN, OF ITS KIND.
The so-called Bistro chairs These have a pressed-steel frame and are painted red; with plywood seats. c.1926. H:82cm (32Vin). DOR 3
The origins of this chair, despite the efforts of numerous historians, have proved murky at best. The design is most likely to have been developed in France some time around 1925, specifically for the country’s booming cafe culture. The chair bears a strong, albeit rather crude, resemblance to chairs designed by Emile Jacques Ruhlmann, although it’s doubtful whether the French high-society designer ever had a hand in its conception.
What is perhaps most impressive about the chair, apart from its stackability, is its economy of materials. The steel used is incredibly thin and, to give the legs rigidity, the steel has been subtly curved. To save further on metal, holes have been cut from the seat back. While the perfect low-cost, space-saving chair was to become something of a holy grail for 20th-century furniture designers, few ever bettered the chair design that first set the ball rolling.
FREE SWINGER ARMCHAIR
The base of this chromed-steel cantilevered armchair from Austria is the only part of the structure that is exposed. The chair seat and back are filled with down and upholstered in sand-coloured velour. H:84cm (331in). DOR 3
LAMINATED LOUNGE CHAIR
This chair has been made from one sheet of cut and moulded laminated birch and resembles the Gerald Summers classic (see p.438). The arms are fixed to the back with metal brackets. Hans Pieck. 1944. H:76cm (30in). Bon Bay 4
BAUHAUS ARMCHAIR
This chair was designed by Erich Dieckmann for the Weimer Bauhaus, in collaboration with Ernst Mayo. Made from solid beech, it has a bowed back and slatted seat. c.1930. H:81.5cm (321:in); W.52.5cm (21in). WKA
DINING CHAIR
This is one of a pair of stacking birch plywood dining chairs that were produced by Artek. The chair has a circular wooden seat and a pierced plywood back, supported on L-shaped plywood uprights. c.1930s.
DIAGONAL CHAIR
This chrome-plated, tubular steel chair is named after the supports between the seat back and legs. The arms, seat, and back are of laminated wood. W.H. Gispen. c.1927. H:82.5cm (321-in); W-54cm (2111n): D:60cm (23,Xln). QU 2
SLATTED CHAIR
This Viennese chair has a tubular-steel frame and solid, stained-beech wooden slats for the seat and back. The arms have wooden armrests. One of a set of four. 1925. H:84.5cm (33V4in). DOR 3

THE AGE OF THE DESIGNER
HEPPLEWHITE PERIOD
HEPPLEWHITE began his career as a cabinet maker
at a time when the art of cabinet making was at its ifullest tide kakiemon porcelain . The second half of the eighteenth century is often called the golden age of cabinet making, and by I- `6o, when Hepplewhite settled in business at Cripple-gate, the standard of design and craftsmanship was at its zenit1h walnut tripod tea table . The Chippendale school was still in its prime, and they was a strong group of craftsmen who had ingrained in the — a fine trade tradition, a thing which implies something more than a mere ability to use tools antique card table collectors . It means a sense of appreciation and a certain element of originality, tempered with the convention that belongs to a workshop where everything is done by hand silver tripod table .
George Hepplewhite was one of these practical men english bristol teapots . He was scarcely a designer in the sense that Robert Adam was antique english stoneware identification . He did not sit down at his drawing board and sketch out purely original designs, but his work had characteristic features that can usually be recognised andre’ japaneese porcelain . As a cabinet maker he knew his job perfectly, and, in addition, he had a keen appreciation of fine line which enabled him to give his work a certain individuality in a way that would be beyond a man of no imagination eighteenth century women dressing in front of men in their bedchamber . In this sense he no doubt influenced the trade considerably, but beyond this he simply worked in a certain style which a group of cabinet makers was following angouleme guerhard . His name has come to be attached to that style probably because of his book, The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide, and that was not published until 1788, two years after his death antique wooden pot cupboard .
It is apparent, then, in speaking of Hepplewhite furniture a general style popular from about 1760 until practically the end of the century is implied rather than the work of Hepplewhite himself as an individual dutch antique furniture . A great deal of furniture no doubt was made in the workshop at Cripplegate, but except in a few rare instances it is impossible definitely to identify it antique drop-leaf bread table .
Taken generally, Ilepplewhite furniture was comparatively simple antique blue glass kidney shaped end table . There were a few touches of decoration (usually applied), but even the most ornate specimens had nothing like the elaboration found in the richer Chippendale pieces english porcelain parian . Several new forms of decoration were introduced or revived, for whereas Chippendale work had little other form of decoration besides carving, Hepplewhite furniture had
FIG (chineseexportporcelaincoffeeservice) . 130 tambour commode . SHIELD BACK CHAIR french art deco porcelain jaguar .
1770-1780 spoonback armchair .
One of the finest chairs produced in the 18th century “antique collectors blog” .
For all their lightness these chairs were extremely strong art nouveau jugendstil jugs .
being made in the finest mahogany and of the best work-
manship multipurpose dressing table .
inlay, painting, and gilding in addition to carving glass table antique ceramic legs . The inlay usually took the form of bandings and strings in satinwood, rosewood, ebony, and so on, and was in fact very similar to the inlaid work usually associated with Sheraton glass boudoir lamp deco . Carving was of small classical subject, vases, festoons, draped cloth, and swags of husks, an entire departure from the elaborate scrolling acanthus leafwork of the Chippendale school duke extendable dining table .
It is perhaps in the chair that the Hepplewhite charac-
HOOP BACK
CHAIR antique empire or regency style mahogany bookcase .
1770-1780 english seventeenth century cabinets .
A favourite motif of Hepple-
whitewere the ears of wheat ball and claw tripod table antique . These appear at
the top of the pierced splat
in the back 18th century wardrobe .
11
FIG carved japanese tea table . 132 edgar brandt reproductions snake lamp . OVAL BACK
CHAIR pennsylvania house antique sideboard .
1770-1780-
The French influence is
strongly marked In this
chair world market carved brass charger plate . Except for this
French form the cabriole
leg was never used by
the late 18th century
designers antique silver sphinx .
SIDEBOARD WITH BREAK FRONT DECORATED WITH INLAY pembroke end table .
Late i8th century,
It was not until towards the end of the 18th century that the sideboard with drawer and cupboard accommodation
was made epergne antique for sale . It was evolved from the side table with separate pedestals recipe for “soft paste porcelain” . It is difficult to distinguish between
Hepplewhite and Sheraton pieces as both had a great deal in common italian deco furniture .
The Shield Back Chair
teristic is most marked de coene freres . Probably the most famous type is the shield back, of which an example is given in Fig small sutherland table . 130- A really fine example of a shield back ranks amongst the most beautiful things ever produced, but, like the cabriole leg, first-rate examples are rare antique folding “coaching table” . The truth is that it takes a first-class chair maker of considerable experience to make one properly, the difficulty being that the shaping runs in three directions 16th century english joyned table . There is the shield shape seen from the front, the backward rake, and the concave plan shape antique table turned legs . To incorporate all these to form one harmonious whole is something that calls for a great deal of skill and experience antique inlaid table birds .
As a rule the main back framing had a channelled moulding worked all round it, and the probable reason for this was that it helped to emphasise the shield shape steuben stemware deco . It will be realised that, although the lower part of the shield appears to be in one piece, it is in reality in three dresser with mirrors & teardrop pulls & ogee bracket . The side portions in fact continue down, forming the back legs, and a curved bottom rail is fitted in to complete the shape between them 18th century marquetry . By channelling the wood the shield appears to be in one unbroken piece william iv jupe extending circular . The front legs of these chairs were invariably tapered louis sue .
The chief outside influences of Hepplewhite were the Adam and the French raoul dufy, plates ceramique . Of the latter there was Louis XV, which showed itself in the cabriole leg exemplified in Fig classical work/sewing table mahogany,3 drawers,carved legs, pedestal paw feet . 132 olive green and iron red oriental porcelain . Note the French scrolled foot and the flat shaping which continues along the front seat rail in an unbroken sweep arabisque furniture in ny . Another French influence came from the Louis XVI, and one result was the use of the turned leg 18th and 19th century silversmithing . An example of this is the settee in Fig antique spoons italy silver ornate . 129 papier mache tray-c19th .
Other typical Hepplewhite chair backs are the hoop back, of which Fig antique drop leaf or gate leg tables, ,ny . 131 is an example, the oval back (Fig antique 5 leg oak drop leaf table . 132), heart shape, and that with the serpentine shaped top rail curving into the uprights mackintosh wooden chairs .
Pieces such as sideboards, writing tables, bureaux, chests of drawers, tallboys, wardrobes, and so on were, as already mentioned, extremely like Sheraton furniture, and are dealt with more fully in Chapter X curved back chair from 1940s . The bedstead in Fig french chamber pot bed tables . 129 is a four-poster, very like one appearing in Hepplewhite’s book, and shows the general restraint in treatment walnut tripod tea table .
Fig clawfoot dresser . 133 is a sideboard belonging to the last few years of the eighteenth century trestle table double column . It has characteristics of the Hepplewhite style, but there are others which belong equally to Sheraton, and, as we are dealing with what might be termed schools of design rather than the work of individuals, it is apparent that one can do little more than term it late eighteenth century antique french empire . It is probably the work of a cabinet maker whose name has not come down to posterity, and who worked in the traditional style of the period edwards & roberts furniture .
THE AGE OF THE DESIGNER
ADAM PERIOD
N one important sense Robert Adam was entirely
different from the other outstanding characters with
-whose work this book deals serpentine top breakfast table . He was an architect by profession, not a practical cabinet maker, and in turning his attention to furniture he was not in any way fettered by any convention which a tradesman might have 19century british armschairs . It is not suggested that the convention of a good trade tradition is bad ; it is one of the healthiest influences a craft can have ; but it simply is a statement of fact that Adam was able to approach the subject from a fresh angle italian inlaid tea table . He worked from his drawing board and passed on his designs to be carried out by a practical cabinet maker porcelain spanish dancers .
He had travelled a good deal in France and Italy, and on his return in 1758 he set himself up as an architect and rapidly became very successful antique furniture prohibition bar examples . As a result of his foreign studies he was influenced considerably by the classical school, but he had a strong individual turn, and as a result his work had a characteristic touch which made it different from that of other architects working in the classical style antique drop leaf table for sale . It was delicate and refined (some term it effeminate), abounding in small intricate detail, and it superseded largely the rather heavier work of such architects as Sir William Chambers “empire designer, best known for pedestal tables with curved legs .
His connection with furniture was that in designing an interior he included the furniture as an essential part of the scheme blue china tea set with silver inlay england . To the average architect the work was finished when the walls and ceiling had been decorated, but Adam required every detail, even to the ornaments on the sideboard, to harmonise with his ideas japanese portable cherry wood tea tables . Perhaps the most notable example is that of Harewood House, in which the furniture was designed by Adam and executed by Chippendale antique ball and claw desk .
Although there were marked characteristics in Adam furniture, one has to be wary in accepting a piece as genuine Adam Characteristics
Adam chinese furnture form mid 19th centuary . The fact that he had to employ practical cabinet makers, combined with his great success, soon led to a great deal of imitation simple european furniture . In fact, of all the ” Adam ” work that has survived only a very small part can be identified as owing its origin to Adam himself regency period casters .
FIG porcelaine antique motif ming . 137 louis the 14th chair . DINING TABLE WITH FLAP AND PIVOTED BACK LEG japanese laqure tea table .
Abotd 1775•
This is one of a pair of tables Intended to be placed together when used
for dining silver flatware wood handle . The front rail is in reality a drawer front brass ornaments for furniture empire style . It now stands In
the Victoria and Albert Museum South Kensington 1828 sideboard buffet .
self was an individual and original designer, ” Adam ” furniture was, for the most part, the work of a school working in his style antique wood drop leaf table .
Adam used many methods of decoration in his furniture antique oak dropleaf gateleg table . The carving had definite characteristics shearers cupboard heavy . The acanthus leafage was finer and more delicately treated than in the full scrolled form which Chippendale had favoured, and, in addition, he used chains of husks, the honeysuckle device, Greek key, vases, drapery, plaques carved with mythological subjects, rams’ heads, and grotesques antique empire furniture . Inlay and marquetry, too, were revived, and were carried out in satinwood, tulip-wood, rosewood, amboyna, harewood, and so on biedermeier antique de . The subjects were similar to those of the carving furniture designersgerman . Another form of decoration was painting in the style of Angelica Kauffman meissen porcelain antic . A popular treatment was to make these painted panels the main feature of a design of scrolling acanthus leafwork
FIG antique dishes germany pastels with scallops . 138 henry clay bed and furniture . SEMI-CIRCULAR ADAM SIDE TABLE ferniture leg in itali .
T770-1780 antique table in europe .
An extremely fine piece of cabinet work carried out In mahogany antique vase markings newcastle.. on. tyne 1762 . The
curved top rail is veneered, the grain running crosswise 17 century elm gateleg table . The centre
panel and the oval pater2e are typical features brass frame girandole images .
and husks 17th and 18th century french silver marks . In some few instances, too, Wedgwood plaques were introduced bidet square .
A typical Adam sideboard is shown in Fig lion antique mahogany dining table . 136 royal sheffield silver . Properly speaking, it is a side table with two pedestals, but the three pieces were intended to stand together and form a whole In some cases the pedestals were actually joined to the table, though the result never seems quite so successful furniture of meiji period . It gives one the impression that the three pieces were actually separate at one time and were fixed together antique silver candelabras made in england . It is true that there was a general tendency to make the sideboard a single unit, but it was only when the pedestals lost their indivi-The Adam Sideboard
duality as such that the result was really a success labels under boulle furniture . The Sheraton sideboard in Fig makers of antique tea tables . 14 wheat shaped dining table base .4 exemplifies the point furniture  finmar ltd . The origin of the pedestals can just be traced, but they are essentially a part of the design as a whole “art, nouveau”"chiparus”"deer” .
The pedestals owed their origin to the lack of accommodation in the side table andres rosewood solid wood . If one refers back to the side table of Chippendale’s time in Fig chromed trestle table leg . 11 5 it is obvious that its only use was to provide standing space on its top directoire phyfe sofa . There were no drawers or cupboards in which table furniture could be kept opalescent glass perfume france . It fell to Adam to introduce the pedestals antique walnut telescooic dining table . Sometimes they were fitted up with metal grids to enable hot irons to be placed in the cupboards, so providing ? means of warming plates The urns at the top either had metal containers in which iced water was kept, or they were fitted up to hold cutlery antique rosewood armoire with claw feet . The more ornate specimens were often carved with rams’ heads, drapery, husks, and other devices selling japanese tea tables antique .
Towards the end of the century the cabriole leg practically died right out 18th century chippendale dresser . Adam never used it upholstered wood chairs from 1930s . In most cases he preferred the square tapered leg with small square feet fashion 17th century . They were usually recessed in their tapered portion, a pendant of husks often being carved in the recess near the top old gate leg table ball feet . The leg at C, Fig second hand old oak table in staffordshire . 139, shows this detail antique ladik rug . Another common treatment was to carve a series of flutes along the length, the lower part often being filled in with reeds (see A in Fig french antique occasional tables . 139)•
A particularly fine example of an Adam dining table is given in Fig important american girandole mirror . 137 english hepplewhite dressing table . It is one of a pair napoleon antique campaign chair . In use the two would be placed together, flap to flap, so forming one large table meals in eighteenth century england . The flap is supported by a single leg made to pivot frosted glass vase with smokey streaks . Thus when not required for dining the tables could be placed flat against the wall and become useful side tables antique chinese circular revolving bookcase . The decorative treatment is well worth noting antique porclean handled sheffeld flatware . The tapered legs are fluted on all sides except one, this being carved with a crisscross design set in a recess antique table round drop leaf claw foot . At the top are paterx carved with leafwork theodore haviland 1958 pattern . The fluted top rail with the plain centre part carved with swags of husks is typically Adam english stoneware marks . He invariably introduced this centre panel french meals17th century .
An example of a small side table with turned and carved legs is given in Fig furniture cupboard design,side board,wood . 138 george hepplewhite bottle case . It exemplifies well the delicate treatment of which Adam was so fond meissen porcelain animalsfrederick augustus . Note the use of the centre panel again, this time of quite plain form see a silver sauceboat with a heated base . Other kinds of Adam legs and feet are given in Fig antique glass top tea table bird . 139•

GERMANY TOOK LONGER to embrace
the changes in decorative arts seen elsewhere in Europe. This was largely because it was still preoccupied with the prevailing Historismus style,
where design was centred on an interpretation of historic elements.
However, through the influence of the Belgian designer Henry van de Velde – who worked on a number of high-profile projects in Germany –and the innovative work of gifted German artists such as Richard Riemerschmid, Peter Behrens, and Franz von Stuck, the Art Nouveau style became popular. This style was known in Germany as Jugendstil
(Youth Style) – a name associated with the popular review Die Jugend (Youth) – and it subsequently flourished throughout Germany during the last decades of the 19th century.
Jugendstil embraced both Symbolism and a preoccupation with nature and natural shapes. It was applied to everything from architecture to furniture and simple household objects. Each element had to work as part of a whole in terms of form and design: a concept called Gesamtkunstwerk. The aim was to make the home a unified, total work of art: practical, simple, dignified, and beautiful.
Many of the exponents of Jugendstil
were painters who turned to the decorative arts as part of a reaction against the stifling historicism of the fine arts. Munich was home to some of these designers, and came to be the city at the heart of the movement.
INNOVATIVE DESIGNERS
Early advocates of Jugendstil included Hermann Obrist, who was inspired by the Symbolists’ emotions and the plant world, and architect August Endell, who played a pivotal role throughout the development of Munich’s Secessionist movement
by seeking to echo the
spirit of his Austrian
contemporaries. Endell designed boldly proportioned, clean-lined furniture in materials such as elm or forged steel, and paid considerable attention to decorative detail.
Among the furniture designers in the Munich group were Richard Riemerschmid, Bruno Paul, and the architect, Peter Behrens.
Behrens was also one of the founding members of the Vereinigte Werkstatten fur Kunst im Handwerk (United Workshops for Applied Art). His furniture combined traditional
rectilinear shapes with restrained
curves. Richard Riemerschmid,
a talented designer, painter, and architect, was also linked to the workshops. His furniture followed Behrens’ example but was also influenced by Celtic origins, which played a role in Germanys decorative traditions. His simply shaped furniture used wood in its natural state and colour, with the grain its most distinctive decorative feature. Bruno Paul, another protagonist of Jugendstil, developed comfortable, rectilinear designs called Typenmobel which he was able to mass produce. They were a forerunner of the industrial furniture production of Ithe I Q Ws and 40s.
Germany also spawned a host of artists’ guilds, established in an effort to realise the ideals of the British Arts and Crafts movement.
THE DARMSTADT COLONY
The most notable of these guilds was founded in 1899 by Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse, and was based at Darmstadt. Largely the vision of the Austrian architect and designer, Josef Maria Olbrich, the Darmstadt colony included public buildings and residences that were designed, built, and furnished by various artists.
art” could be found at Darmstadt in the house that Peter Behrens designed for himself. The interior, furniture, and decoration created a unified whole.
By the beginning of the 20th century, Germany had embraced industrial production and increasingly turned its attention to improving the quality of mass-produced, industrial products. This signalled the death knoll for Art Nouveau, with its ideals of hand-craftsmanship, freedom of artistic creation, and refined decoration.

CIRCULAR DINING TABLE
This oak pedestal dining table was designed by Peter Behrens and made by the Vereingte Werkstatten far Kunst im Handwerk, Munich. It has a panelled top above an urn-shaped pedestal. The six C-scroll supports underneath the table repeat the symmetry of the six-panel circular top. The circular foot plate also
repeats the shape of the circular table top. With Richard Riemerschmid, Behrens was the first industrial designer, designing specifically for mass production. With this piece, Behrens moved away from his earlier elaborate and curvilinear Art Nouveau style towards a simpler style that depended on the quality of the wood, and simple shapes and proportions. c.1900.
SIDE CHAIR
This chair by Peter Behrens was designed for the poet Richard Dehmel’s house in Hamburg. Made of white painted wood, the chair is geometric in design, with bold cut-out shapes on the back and has straight legs.
YELLOW LACQUERED CUPBOARD
This pinewood cupboard was designed by Gertrud Kleinhempel and made by Dresdner Werlkstatten. Two of its four doors are pierced with heart motifs, and it is divided horizontally with three rows of rectangular, black and white scenic panels.
c.1900.

This stained pine commode, designed by Richard Riemerschmid, has a rectangular top with a three-sided splashback. The six drawers have nickel-plated pulls. c.1905.
This Patriz Huber cupboard is polished and partly carved. It has inlays of different exotic woods and copper mountings. The top has facetted glazing and shelves on either side. c.1900.
This mahogany table, designed by Richard Riemerschmid and made by Dresdner Werlkstatten, has a hexagonal top, a round second tier, and curved legs. 1905.
This oak chair by Otto Eckmann has square-section arms, rails, legs, supports, and stretchers, with the latter two bowed. It has a brass-riveted, leather-upholstered back and seat pads. c.1900.
SIX-DRAWER COMMODE
LEMON MAHOGANY CUPBOARD
COUCH TABLE
OAK FRAME ARMCHAIR
DINING CHAIR
This is a poplar dining chair which comes from a set of nine, designed by Peter Behrens. It is lacquered and has a
leather seat. c.1901.
BEECH FRAME ARMCHAIR
This beech chair was designed by Marcel Kammerer and made by Thonet of Vienna (see p.375). The bentwood frame is stained mahogany, and the stuffed seat and buttoned back are covered in brown leather. c.1910.

French Art Nouveau Furniture: DISPLAY CASE, TWO-TIER TABLE, TABLE LAMPS, ROSEWOOD AND WALNUT VITRINE.

FRANCE: THE NANCY SCHOOL
MANY OF THE FINEST WORKS of French
Art Nouveau were created at the Alliance Provincale des Industries d’Art, or Ecole de Nancy, in the province of Lorraine. It was founded in 1901 by the innovative furniture and glass designer Emile Galle, and was based on the example set by the English Arts and Crafts guilds. A design school and workshop that was profoundly influenced by the Symbolist movement in art and literature, the goal of the enterprise was to modernize technical training in both the decorative and applied arts.
The natural world inspired and informed the artists and craftsmen
who gathered around the brilliant Galle at the Ecole de Nancy, and the school gave a coherent identity to the diverse craftsmen working there.
Among those who ran the Nancy school with Galle were some of the finest craftsmen and designers of the day, including Louis Majorelle, Eugene Vallin, Victor Prouve, and the Daum brothers, Auguste and Antonin.
BOTANICAL INSPIRATION
In addition to history of art and Symbolist poetry and literature, Galle’s rich influences included the study of local flora and fauna — cow parsley, thistles, insects, and so on — which
was to furnish him with creative inspiration for shapes as well as decoration. His romantic vision of nature, a delight in plants, animals, and other living creatures, and a passionate faith in the mystery of creation lay at the heart of his most inspired designs.
FURNITURE STYLES
Galle’s emotional connection with the vitality of nature and his love of symbolism resulted in highly original, imaginative furniture that seemed to breathe with life.
Tables and cabinets were made
from richly coloured or exotic woods,
including rosewood, maple, walnut, or fruitwoods such as apple or pear. The pieces stood on carved supports in the shape of dragonfly wings, or boasted cornices featuring carved
creatures such as snails, moths, and bats. Decorative bronze mounts resembled insects, and fruitwood inlays in extravagant compositions depicted natural motifs, including flower blossoms, leaves, fruit, cars of corn, snails, and butterflies.

Many of Galles pieces were unique, and were signed and frequently engraved with verses by Victor Hugo, Paul Verlaine, or Charles Baudelaire.
LOUIS MAJORELLE
The other great furniture designer working at Nancy – Louis Majorelle –turned his back on the Louis XV taste, which had been the staple of many established workshops, and created some of the finest pieces of Art
Giltwood Aubepine table by Louis Majorelle This occasional table has a circular marble top above a moulded gilt frieze. The tapering moulded legs are decorated with foliate carving.
Nouveau furniture. Although his desks, tables, chairs, and bedroom suites lack the symbolic poetry found in the works of Galle, his finely crafted furniture is beautiful in its own right.
Majorelle established several workshops so that he could increase his output. He was a trained cabinetmaker, and although much of his furniture incorporated some machine-made parts, the quality was superb. Majorelle’s furniture was usually made
of dark hardwoods such as mahogany and rosewood, with fluid outlines and massive, sculptural gilt-bronze mounts shaped as orchids or water lilies,
alongside delicately carved, inlaid, or marquetry decoration in fruitwoods, pewter, or mother-of-pearl. He also collaborated with the Daum brothers, who were famous for their glassware, to produce a wide variety of decorative lamps with glass shades and elegant bronze or iron mounts.

ROSEWOOD AND WALNUT VITRINE
This rosewood and walnut vitrine by Emile Gallo is inspired by organic motifs. The upper section has glazed doors with carved foliage surrounds extending to a central support to form a heart motif. The back is decorated with fruitwood leaf-form marquetry. 1900.
ARMCHAIRS
These mahogany chairs by Louis Majorelle have rectangular padded splats, stuff-over arms on unusual, sweeping, reverse-curved supports, and stuff-over seats on moulded legs. This is a graceful variation on the traditional chair style with gently curving lines. c.1900.
This is an unusual pair of glass and bronze lamps made in Nancy by Daum Freres and Louis Majorelle. The tapering, gilded, bronze shaft has a flower motif in high relief and three raised supports for the domed, mushroom-shaped shades. The lamp shades are made of clear flashed glass with powder inclusions in rose, greenish-yellow, and dark violet. They are signed “Daum Nancy” and have a Cross of Lorraine on the rim of the shade. c. 1904.
TABLE LAMPS

Made rom mahogany and makasar, this display case by Louis Majorelle rests on curved diagonal legs. The doors have distinctive blossom ornaments. c.1920.
This rosewood occasional table by Emile GaIle has three out-splayed supports and scroll legs with carved hoof feet. The table is decorated with floral marquetry. c.1900.
This sumptuous, blonde mahogany, goose-design cabinet by Louis Majorelle is decorated with marquetry, pierced wood, and exotic timbers. The piece has pierced side panels, a frieze drawer with bronze goose-head drawer
DISPLAY CASE
NEST OF TABLES
These Emile Galle tables Aux Magnolias are made of fruit- and rootwoods and decorated with magnolia and butterfly design inlays, and carved branch patterns on the legs of the largest tables. c.1900.
TWO-TIER TABLE
ARMCHAIRS
This pair of Marrons d’Inde armchairs by Louis Majorelle have splats with exotic wood marquetry, bent and curved arms, tapering legs, and stuff-over upholstered seats. 1905-10.
Pierced side panels
are decorated
with repeated scrolling motifs.
Bronze drawer pulls are in the shape of goose heads.
The goose motif is continued on the front doors.
GOOSE DESIGN CABINET
pulls, and cupboards inlaid witn exotic wood showing a gaggle of geese. A superb designer and highly skilled technician, Majorelle created flamboyantly luxurious pieces of unrivalled
quality. c.1900.

Antiques Recently Found on Antcollectors (2)  Russian Furniture

FROM THE 18TH CENTURY, Russia had
been turning her attention to the West for cultural inspiration, and this continued in the opening decades of the 19th century. However, unlike elsewhere in Europe, the Empire style did not make inroads through the imposition of a member of Bonaparte’s family or through French control.
Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 had devastated the land, yet the period is marked by a flowering of the arts and economic recovery. Indeed, the Mikhailovsky, Winter, and Yelagin palaces were supplied with important Empire-style suites during the reign of Tsar Alexander I (1801-25).
FOREIGN INFLUENCE
Since the time of Catherine 11 (r.1762-96), furniture had been imported from Western Europe, particularly France, but also Britain and Germany. Architects, too, were brought over. By the time of Alexander I (r.1801-25), architects such as the Swiss, Thomas de Thomon, and the Italians, Carlo Rossi and Giacomo Antonio Domenico Quarenghi, were introducing the strict Neoclassical style prevalent elsewhere in Europe. They continued the work of Rastrelli, Rinaldi, and the Scot, Charles Cameron, in the urban development of St Petersburg and its outlying palaces.
They provided designs for local craftsmen, which were also taken up by local architects, such as Zacharov.
The furniture for the White Hall of the Mikhailovsky Palace was designed by Rossi and supplied by the Russian Bobkov brothers. Architectural in
detail and conception, the pieces epitomized French style and were covered in wreaths, rosettes, and other Empire motifs.
Pavlovsk Palace was rebuilt by the Russian architect, Andrei Voronikhin, after extensive damage
during the Napoleonic
wars. He was also a
consummate designer
of furniture. One particular chair –made for the Tsar’s summer residence, Tsarkoye Selo, in 1804 – is often associated with his name. It has sphinx monopodiae legs that rise, uninterrupted, into the winged arm supports. Not only does this chair demonstrate the vogue for Empire furniture and ancient Egyptian motifs, but it anticipates Biedermeier chairs, which conceal the link between the arm and the leg.

Russian furniture; England, especially the designs of Thomas Sheraton, also played an important part.
NATIVE TIMBERS
Much fine Russian furniture of this period, with its simplicity, symmetry, and love of boil clairs, is difficult to distinguish from Central European pieces. Mahogany was probably imported, but birch came from the forests near Karelia in Finland. Poplar, olive wood, and sandalwood were also fashionable, as were inlays in contrasting stones. The
marble was often Russian,
such as that from Siberia
or the famous green malachite, which could be cut into such thin veneers that it was used on curved surfaces.
METAL FURNITURE
Timber was frequently gilded and patinated to simulate metal, particularly bronze, but some furniture was also made in metal. A rich tradition of steel furniture was produced by the Arsenal at Tula, and some pieces were made entirely of gilt-bronze. Gueridons might be entirely metal, sometimes
with malachite tops and in-curved supports with eagles’ heads. One of the most lavish gilt-bronze items was the dressing table supplied to the
Mikhailovsky Palace. With a blue smalt (silica glass) table top, the piece is a riot of antique motifs, from sphinxes to cornucopiae
STYLISTICDIVERSITY
After the mid 1820s, the Neo-Gothic style became fashionable, along with a plethora of other revivalist styles,
including Rococo. Later, in the second quarter of the 19th century, furniture designers began to look back to Russia`s own traditions and folklore for
inspiration, designing pieces a la ruse. These modes were popularized by architects such as A. Staken-Schneider, and the Tour furniture shop. Typical chairs with pierced, rounded backs survive in the dining room at the Arkangelskoe, near Moscow. The design is thought to reflect traditional 17th-century Russian architecture.

GOTHIC SIDE TABLE
This Gothic-style side table is made of silver alloy and has a veined white marble top. The frieze is designed to look like a series of Gothic ogee arches: these are decorated with acanthus leaves and have a trefoil set
within each lunette. The corners of the frieze are embellished with foliate capitals set on slender quatrefoil column stems. The table stands on a rectangular base plinth decorated with an elaborate lattice of quatrefoils.
Lacquered brass decoration adds colour to an otherwise austere-looking piece. c.1820.
CENTRE TABLE
This centre table is made of birch. The circular marble top has a raised rim and reeded edge above a chamfered frieze. The table top is raised on a leaf-clasped column with three anthropomorphic legs and paw feet with sunken casters. Early 19th century.
NEOCLASSICAL CONSOLE TABLE
This Empire console table has a rectangular marble top above a richly carved frieze with a stylized rosette at each corner. Each of the four legs is a carved monopodia surmounted by a female head. Early 19th century.

MAHOGANY-FRAMED SOFA
CONSOLE DESSERT
Scroll-carved terminal
This sofa has an ornately scrolled top rail carved with anthemion motifs and downswept solid arms with scroll-carved terminals. The seat and back are upholstered and are raised on sabre front and rear legs. Early 19th century.
This gilt-bronze and brass-mounted mahogany demi-lune console dessert has an upper section with three tiers, each with pierced galleries, and a frieze with brass fluted stiles. The columnar supports are joined by a tiered platform stretcher on block feet. Early 19th rentury.
EMPIRE ARMCHAIR
This mahogany and ormolu-mounted armchair has a rectangular panelled top rail above a pierced back splat with military motifs. The chair has distinctive sphinx-head monopodia legs, and the wings of the sphinxes form the arm supports. Early
19th century. Bk
MAHOGANY ARMCHAIRS
These mahogany chairs have carved top rails and leather-upholstered seats and backs. The armrests and arm supports are formed from one sweeping curve. The tapering seat is supported on a straight seat rail. The chairs are decorated with brass inlay throughout and supported on sabre legs.

Some of the finest Art Deco furniture was produced in France, where designers reacted against the Art Nouveau style, and were inspired instead by the lines of 18th- and early 19th-century French furniture.
Cabinet-makers such as Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann
1879-1933) created one-off pieces in exotic woods; others were influenced by African and Oriental art,
while from 1925 the machine aesthetic of Modernism gained prominence, with such materials as tubular steel.

TRADITIONALIST DESIGNS
The leading French furniture designer
from c.19 IS to the mid-1920s was
Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, whose exceptionally fine handmade furniture is an elegantly pared-down version of the Neo-classical and Empire styles, with typical 18th-century features such as tapering, fluted legs. Decorative effect     is provided by exotic wood veneers, sometimes with inlaid ivory, mother-of-pearl, and tortoiseshell. After 1925 Ruhlmann used Modernist materials, such as tubular steel, but continued to work in a traditional style.
Other designers inspired by historical furniture were Louis Sue (1875-1968) and Andre Mare (1887-1932), who in 1919 formed the Compagnie des Arts Francais to produce a range of pieces including chairs, commodes, and desks, typified by massive forms and veneered in exotic woods with carved or inlaid stylized flowers, fruits, and plants. Their designs are heavier in style than Ruhlmann’s, as they favoured adaptations of Louis Philippe furniture of the 1830s and 1840s.
Many leading Paris department stores
had separate studios that provided a complete interior-design service. From 1921 Maurice Dufrene
( 1876-1955) directed La Maitrise, the design studio of Galeries Lafayette, and from 1923 Paul
Follot (1877-1941) was artistic director at Pomone for Au Bon Marche. Follot designed a wide range of  furnishings; urnishings; his furniture, like Ruhlmann`s is based on 18th-century forms, but
is distinguished by giltwood frames and richly coloured, patterned upholstery. Although his designs became more geometric after 1925, Follot continued to prefer wood, gilding, lacquer, and inlay to tubular steel, plastic, or glass.
EXOTIC AND MODERN DESIGNS
The geometric motifs typical of this period were derived from Cubist painting, which itself was influenced by the stylized forms of African masks and sculpture. The
furniture designer Pierre Legrain (1887-1929) took inspiration from African furniture, fashioning traditional designs in Western materials.
The Art Deco taste for Oriental art is evident in the popularity of lacquered furniture, the leading exponents of which were the Swiss-born Jean Dunand (1877-
1942) and the Irish-born Eileen Gray (1879-1976), both active in Paris. Dunand’s early lacquered furniture featured floral designs; his work from the 1920s depicted geometric forms in red-and-black lacquer and sometimes panels of crushed eggshell (coquille d’oeuf). Gray studied lacquering in Paris with the Japanese master Sougawara, and in 1920 she designed a furnished apartment for the milliner Suzanne Talbot, featuring a collection of African-inspired spired pieces. From c.1925, influenced by Modernism, she produced furniture of tubular steel, glass, and aluminium.
The leading designer of Modernist furniture was the architect Le Corbusier (1887-1965). At the 1925 Paris Exhibition he designed the Pavilion de VEsprit Nouveau, a stark, geometric space sparsely furnished with mass-produced items such as bentwood furniture by Thonet. From 1926, with Charlotte Perriand (b.1903) and his brother Pierre Jeanneret, Le Corbusier designed his own functionalist furniture using tubular steel and other “new” materials. These and other Modernist designs have been reproduced since the 1960s by the Italian furniture company Cassina.

Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann
•    FORMS simple, elegant forms    18th-centuryforms
based on 18th-century designs, with a very high standard of workmanshipMATERIALS
•     exotic wood veneers, such as Macassar ebony, amboyna, palisander, and amaranth; ivory inlay
•    COLLECTING all work collectable, and highly priced
Marks
Ruhlmann’s work carries this signature
Compagnie des Arts Francais
•    MATERIALS marble tops, velvet upholstery
Legrain, Dunand, and Le Corbusier
•    FORMS Legrain: African-inspired with angular, stepped features; Dunand: naturalistic floral designs, geometric designs; Le Corbusier: stark, Modernist designs TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS Dunand: lacquering, crushed eggshell; Le Corbusier: tubular steel frames
•    COLLECTING Le Corbusier: modern reproductions
mass-produced by Cassina arc more accessible

After World War I, furniture designers combined luxury and practicality in their products, and created both traditional types of furniture and innovative forms. In France, traditional Art Deco furniture was typified by elegant styles looking back to the 18th or 19th centuries, using inlay and exotic woods. After 1925 French makers started to incorporate the “new” materials
that were part of the Modernist aesthetic, such as chromium, aluminium, and tubular steel — as advocated by the innovative German Bauhaus, whose industrial designers created functional furniture for mass production. In the USA, designers were influenced by both traditional and Modern European Art Deco, using materials such as laminated wood and chromed metal.

In the early 20th century, Dutch, German, and
Scandinavian furniture designers were at the forefront of the Modern movement. Designing specifically for Machine production, they rejected ornament and experimented with the new materials of tubular steel, aluminium, chromium, and preformed plywood, aiming to create standardized, functional furniture accessible to all markets.
THE NETHERLANDS
Among the earliest furniture designs inspired by the new machine aesthetic ere those of Gerrit Rietveld 1888-1964). From c.1918 Rietveld was associated with the Dutch magazine De Stijl (Style), whose contributors, a group of avant-garde architects, painters, designers, and theorists, aimed
to create a new “universal” art based on lines, geometric shapes, primary colours, and black and white. Rietveld’s “Red-Blue” chair, designed in 1918, is one of the best-known expressions of De Stijl ideas. Its straightforward construction meant that it was highly suitable for mass production. Versions made before 1923 are stained, varnished, or limed, reflecting Rietveld’s traditional training in carpentry. Only after this date was the chair painted in red, blue, black, and yellow. From c.1918 Rietveld’s furniture designs were constructed from linear wooden elements; from the mid-1920s they featured flat Wooden planes. Rietveld produced his own furniture until 1924, when he sold his business to his assistant Gerard van der Groenekan. Rights to the designs were sold in 1971 to the Italian furniture company Cassina, which still reproduces them today.
GERMANY
Most of the well-known furniture designers in Germany in the inter-war period were associated with the Bauhaus. Founded in 1919 in Weimar by the architect Walter Gropius (1883– 1969), the Bauhaus was one of the first schools to train artists and craftsmen to design high-quality goods specifically for industrial production. It is particularly renowned for the functional, geometric style of its products and its experimentation with new Materials such as tubular steel and plywood.
The best-known furniture designs associated with the Bauhaus were those produced by the Hungarian-born architect Marcel Breuer (1902-81), head of the school’s carpentry workshop from 1925 to 1928. His earliest designs feature linear wooden components, similar in
style to Rietveld’s furniture. However, by c.1925, Breuer was designing chairs with tubular steel frames, and his “Wassily” chair (1925) was one of the first tubular steel pieces to be produced on a large scale. Designs including the “Wassily” chair and the tubular steel-framed, cantilevered “B32″ chair (1926) were manufactured by such firms as Standard-Mobel Lengyel & Co. in Berlin and Thonet in Vienna. In 1932 Breuer began to design aluminium furniture for the Wohnbedarf furnishings stores in Switzerland; since aluminium is weaker than steel, these designs are more complex in construction than his tubular steel pieces. In 1935 Breuer emigrated to Britain, where he met Jack Pritchard (b. 1899), owner of Isokon (1932-9), which produced furniture in the Modern style and promoted the use of plywood. For Isokon, Breuer designed the “Long Chair”, a sculptural plywood reclining chair that moulded to the position of the body, and lightweight tables and chairs created from single sheets of cut and moulded plywood.
The avant-garde architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), artistic director of the Bauhaus from 1930 to 1933, designed cantilevered tubular steel furniture for mass production by the firm of Berliner Metallgewerbe
from 1927 to 1931. Many of his other designs, although functional in appearance, were in fact handmade for the luxury market. A notable example is his padded leather and chrome “Barcelona” chair and stool, designed for
the German pavilion at the 1929 International Exhibition in arcelona. With a curved X-frame inspired by Classical furniture, the chair was designed as a “throne” for King Alfonso XIII of Spain for the opening ceremony of the exhibition. Original Berliner Metallgewerbe models are exceptionally rare and valuable today, but since 1947-8 the chair has been mass-produced by the American firm of Knoll, and these reproductions are more accessible to collectors.
SCANDINAVIA
In the 1920s and 1930s, Scandinavia was less industrialized than the rest of Europe or the USA, and
its craft tradition was still highly evident in furniture and interior design. This tradition continued even with the advent of Modernism, Scandinavian designers preferring curving forms and wood to the angular shapes and tubular steel favoured by their German peers. This is well illustrated by the furniture designed by the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), who from from 1929 experimented with plywood for such items as chairs and trolleys, and in 1933 patented a method of bending wood to make stacking stools. Like other Modernist furniture of the period, Aalto’s designs are simple in construction, with no surface decoration, although they may be painted in bright primary colours. His furniture was produced from 1930 to 1933 by the firm of Otto Korhonen in Turku and from 1935 by his own manufacturing company, Artek, in Helsinki. Aalto’s versatile furniture, especially his stacking stools, proved particularly popular in Britain, where it was imported and distributed by Finmar Ltd (est. 1934-5).

•    COLLECTING original 1920s and 1930s pieces are rarer and more valuable than recent versions; many designs were sold to large furniture companies from the 1940s and have been in continuous production since
Gerrit Rietveld
•    CONSTRUCTION linear elements were typical before the early 1920s; planar designs thereafter
•    COLOURS primary colours, plus black and white; early versions of “Red-Blue” chair are unpainted
Marcel Breuer
MATERIALS tubular steel, aluminium, or bent and
laminated plywood; leather arid cane for seats
•    CONSTRUCTION simple contours
construction; chairs and tables made after 1925 have runners rather than feet; Isokon side-chairs and tables are made from single sheets of cut plywood

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
•    MATERIALS tubular steel combined with padded leather upholstery, raffia, or glass
•    CONSTRUCTION Some chairs are cantilevered; the “Barcelona” chair and stool have a distinctive X-frame; careful hand-finishing is typical
•    COLLECTING on early, handmade “Barcelona” chairs the top rail is in bent chromed steel with lap joints and chrome-headed bolts; on later, mass-produced pieces (after 1947-8) the top rail is of cut and welded stainless steel
Alvar Aalto
•    MATERIALS woods, especially plywood, bent laminated (which may flake), and solid birch
Marks
Some Finnish furniture is marked “Aalto Mobley, Svensk Kvalitet Sprodurt”; most pieces have an applied metal label bearing a model number

The Art Deco style of the 1920s and 1930x, which derived ‘its name from the 1925 Paris Exhibition – the Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industrials Modernes – was the first truly modern style of the 20th century. .In their subject-matter, style, and bright colours, Art Deco furniture, jewellery, ceramics, cs, posters, sculpture, and other decorative arts reflected the general atmosphere of optimism that prevailed after the devastation of World War I. The increased liberation of women, the rise of jazz music and Hollywood film-making, the preoccupation with speed, travel, and leisure pursuits, and the growth of commercial competition and advertising all had a strong Influence on Art Deco designers. Until the late 1970s Art Deco pieces attracted little interest among dealers and collectors, but since that time, with numerous exhibitions and Publications on the subject, the popularity  of collecting Art Deco has increased enormously.

Like the Paris Exhibition of 1900 –which had been the showcase for the Art Nouveau style – the 192-5 Exhibition aimed to promote France as the pre-eminent centre for the production of luxury goods. Most European countries, except for or Germany, were involved; the USA declined to take part, deciding that it could not meet the entry requirements for examples of work of “new and original inspiration” stipulated by the organizers. The exhibition was therefore dominated by pavilions displaying the work of leading French designers, such as the
furniture designer Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann (1879-1933) and the glassmaker Rene Laliquc ( 1860-1945). The design studios of the major Parisian department stores, such as Primavera at Printemps, La Maitrise at Galeries Lafayette,  and Pomona at Au Bon Marche, displayed complete interiors, with examples of furniture, household wares, textiles, and carpets in matching styles.
Most of the exhibits reflected the “official taste” of the exhibition; forms were adapted from historical or traditional styles, but with lavish ornament of stylized flowers, figures, and animals, and geometric patterns such as zigzags and chevrons. This was particularly evident in Ruhlmann’s Pavilion d’un Collectioneur, with its chairs influenced by 18th-century design, boldly  patterned wall coverings, and elaborate chandeliers, and also in the design by Andre Groult for an ambassadorial boudoir with shagreen-covered furniture.
This style contrasted strongly with the few displays by Modernist designers. The Pavilion de I’Esprit Nouveau was designed by the avant-garde Swiss-born architect Le Corbusier (1887-1965) and exemplified his vision of a new, minimalist architecture and lifestyle. His small two-storey house, with its doors, windows, and other structural elements based on a modular system of standard-sized units, contained mass-produced furniture and was decorated with abstract paintings. Although this style made a strong impact, its influence did not become widespread until the 19 30x, when it was represented at the 1937 Universal Exhibition in Paris and also at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York.

THE 1925 PARIS EXHIBITION
The Art Deco style, although mainly associated with the 1920s and 1930s, did not suddenly emerge fully formed in this period. Rich ornament, exotic materials, and emphasis on comfort – all features of the style – were already evident in the decorative arts, especially in French furniture, before and during World War I. However, the development of the Art Deco style is mainly associated with the 1925 exhibition in Paris, which lasted from April to October. This exhibition was originally planned for 1915, Lis a continuation of the French government-sponsored international exhibitions that were held in Paris from the 19th century, but was postponed because of the war.
MOTIFS, INFLUENCES, AND
NEW MATERIALS
The standard motifs of the Art Deco style included such traditional decorative elements as bouquets of flowers, animals, and figures of young maidens. However, these were always stylized and angular rather than naturalistic and were often combined with purely geometric motifs, including chevrons, zigzags, Sunbursts, and lightning bolts. This emphasis on stylization and abstract and repeated forms was influenced by the growing impact of the machine, especially automobiles, trains, and aeroplanes, and by such abstract art movements of the early 20th century as Cubism and Futurism. The taste for bright colours was also inspired by the vibrant Fauvist paintings of Henri Matisse, Andre Derain and Maurice Vlaminck, which used contrasting tones and non-naturalistic colours.
Such movements were in turn influenced by the stylized, abstract forms of African masks and sculpture, which were widely collected and imported into Europe in large quantities at this time. Certain elements of Art Deco decorative arts, such as ceramic wall masks, show the inspiration of African art, while African figures featured as decoration on the ceramics of such potters as Rene Buthaud (1886-1987). Also around this time, black American culture in the form of jazz music was introduced into Europe from the USA; the jazz-inspired Revue Negre in Paris, featuring the black dancer and actress Josephine Baker, influenced the work of Buthaud and other Art Deco designers.
The taste for Oriental art was encouraged between 1911 and 1920 by the exotic stage and costume designs of Leon Bakst ( 1866-1924) for the Ballets Russes. These had a significant influence on the Art Deco style, and sparked a fashion for Oriental black-and-red colour combinations as well as lacquered furniture, metalwork, and objets d’art. One of the best exponents of the style was the Swiss designer Jean Dunand (1877-1942). Leading sculptors in France, such as Dimitri Chiparus 1880-1950), also produced figures of dancers in exotic costumes.

THE MODERN MOVEMENT
An alternative to the luxury Art Deco style developed mainly outside France, especially in Germany, during and after World War 1. Progressive artists, architects, and designers argued that the new era demanded good-quality, functional design for all; that new technology and machine production should be exploited fully;  and that form must be derived from function, Without unnecessary ornament.
This movement began in 1907 with the Deutscher Werkbund, an alliance of designers and industrialists. In 1919 the Bauhaus was founded in Weimar by the German architect and designer Walter Gropius (1883-1969); in 1925 the school moved to Dessau, and it was closed by the Nazis in 1933. Bauhaus members designed high-quality furniture, lighting, metalwork, and textiles for industrial production, using new materials, including plywood and tubular steel. Many designs, such as the tubular steel furniture by Marcel Breuer (1902-81) and the glass and metal lamps by Marianne Brandt (1893-1983), are still widely produced. Other Modernist designers of the period included Le Corbusier in France, Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) in Finland, and Gerrit Rietveld (1888-1964) in the Netherlands.
Both the decorative and the Modern strands of Art Deco had a strong influence in the USA, where the style’s vibrant colours and rhythmic patterns expressed the optimism of a young
country that was also the world leader in the mass production of consumer goods. Designers including Paul T. Frankl ( 1886-19,58) and Donald Deskey (1894-1989) used materials also favoured by European Modernists, such as chrome-plated tubular steel. In the 1930s designers such as Norman Bel Geddes (18931958) and Walter Derwin Teague (1883-1960) began to develop their own distinctive version of Art Deco, known as “streamlining”.

Art Deco designers used an extremely wide range of  materials. Luxury manufacturers, including Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, Paul Follot (1877-1941), and the cabinet-makers Louis Sue (1875-1968) and Andre Mare (1887-1932), specialized in fine-quality pieces veneered in exotic woods such as amboyna and Macassar ebony, combined with ivory, shagreen, enamel, gold and silver leaf, and lacquer. Modernist and industrial designers, especially in the USA, showed greater interest in new materials such as aluminium, chromium, and tubular steel. Lavish cinema interiors were created relatively inexpensively from combinations of chromium, coloured glass, and painted concrete. Bakelite, a type of cheap, easily moulded plastic patented in 1907, was widely employed as a substitute for wood in such mass-produced items as radios.