An Art Deco ormolu-mounted and red leather meuble d'appui, for the Compagnie des arts français, 1939, France

Decorated overall with pierced ormolu trellis mounts and stars, the rectangular top above three doors, each enclosing adjustable shelves, on incurved and turned feet.

This long side cabinet or 'meuble d'appui' reflects very clearly the antimodernist attitude that Adnet shared with many French designers and artists just before and during the Second World War. The cabinet was first presented at the Grand Palais in Paris, where it adorned the hall designed by the Compagnie des arts français at the 29th Salon des artistes décorateurs in 1939. The objects that surrounded the cabinet - a pair of oak chairs and decorative panel designed by Pierre Oliver - similarly evoked the return to craftsmanship and more traditional styles that characterised Adnet's work during this period.

The piece was made by Adnet and Poillerat for the Compagnie des arts français, an interior design and decoration company founded by André Mare and Louis Süe in 1919 and installed at 116 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré in Paris. In 1928, Adnet took over the artistic direction of the company and enlisted many avant-garde designers and decorators such as Charlotte Perriand, Djo-Bourgeois, Francis Jourdain and René Herbst.

Sixth photo: The cabinet as exhibited at the 29th Salon des artistes décorateurs, 1939, Grand Palais, Paris (Source: Foucart and Gaillemin, Les Décorateurs des années 40, p. 62).

89 x 202 x 51 cm

Literature:

• G. Brunon-Guardia, 'Décors, meubles et lumière', in Art et décoration: revue mensuelle d'art moderne 2 (1939), p. 121.
• Bruno Foucart and Jean-Louis Gaillemin, Les Décorateurs des années 40 (Paris: Éditions Norma, 1998), pp. 62-65.

Provenance:

• Galerie Jacques Lacoste, Paris
• Private collection, Amsterdam.

The left side of the leather top with old round water stain.