Furniture and Furnishings
See also : Chinese furniture 18th century furniture Modern furniture Art Deco Lalanne Chairs and seats Colonial furniture Women artists
Chronology : 1570-1599 1730-1739 1770-1779 1920
Chronology : 1570-1599 1730-1739 1770-1779 1920
Horseshoe Back Folding Armchair
2022 SOLD for HK$ 125M by Sotheby's
Huanghuali and zitan are both belonging to the category of the rosewoods. Extremely heavy and very dense, the zitan allows a deep and very fine carving. It was preferred by the emperors of China for ceremonial pieces.
Highly appreciated by the Ming, the huanghuali is a tropical hardwood that enables to create furniture with bold shapes. Its color varies from reddish brown to golden yellow while its grains may display seductive pseudo-figurative patterns. Huanghuali literally means yellow pear tree flower.
It is believed that less that 10,000 pieces of furniture in huanghuali are still in existence. Its main source was in Hainan Island. The best pieces were made in the late Ming period and in the Ming-Qing transition. Most of them cannot be dated more precisely.
The use of folding seats, easily transformable into sedan chairs. is very convenient for garden or travel. The folding chair is named jiaoyi meaning chair with crossed legs.
The Han already used folding stools. Much later, the quality and beauty of the wood distinguish the elites of higher rank, the huanghuali being the high-end. Such brass mounted furniture is fragile and seats in soft wood did not survive.
In the Ming dynasty, jiaoyi were made in two main forms of the back, the horseshoe and the much rarer square with or without arms.
The very elegant quanyi form of armchair is characterized by its horseshoe-shaped rail that serves altogether as backrest and armrest. The quanyi is better suited than other forms of Chinese armchairs for the creation of folding models, its front rail fitting into the curved support of the arms.
The use of a jiaoyi as an occasional imperial throne is likely under the Ming but was not illustrated until the Qing. A painting by Castiglione features the Qianlong emperor sitting on a folding armchair during a negotiation with Kazakh emissaries.
A jiaoyi of comfortable proportions and simple forms was sold for HK $ 125M from a lower estimate by Sotheby's on October 8, 2022, lot 11. Its size is 71 x 67 x 103 cm.
Its damascened iron strengthening places it in the earliest examples of late Ming horseshoe back folding armchairs. Its elegant plain backrest flanked with carved geometrical borders is unique in that group while the five other surviving examples have dragon or floral carvings.
Highly appreciated by the Ming, the huanghuali is a tropical hardwood that enables to create furniture with bold shapes. Its color varies from reddish brown to golden yellow while its grains may display seductive pseudo-figurative patterns. Huanghuali literally means yellow pear tree flower.
It is believed that less that 10,000 pieces of furniture in huanghuali are still in existence. Its main source was in Hainan Island. The best pieces were made in the late Ming period and in the Ming-Qing transition. Most of them cannot be dated more precisely.
The use of folding seats, easily transformable into sedan chairs. is very convenient for garden or travel. The folding chair is named jiaoyi meaning chair with crossed legs.
The Han already used folding stools. Much later, the quality and beauty of the wood distinguish the elites of higher rank, the huanghuali being the high-end. Such brass mounted furniture is fragile and seats in soft wood did not survive.
In the Ming dynasty, jiaoyi were made in two main forms of the back, the horseshoe and the much rarer square with or without arms.
The very elegant quanyi form of armchair is characterized by its horseshoe-shaped rail that serves altogether as backrest and armrest. The quanyi is better suited than other forms of Chinese armchairs for the creation of folding models, its front rail fitting into the curved support of the arms.
The use of a jiaoyi as an occasional imperial throne is likely under the Ming but was not illustrated until the Qing. A painting by Castiglione features the Qianlong emperor sitting on a folding armchair during a negotiation with Kazakh emissaries.
A jiaoyi of comfortable proportions and simple forms was sold for HK $ 125M from a lower estimate by Sotheby's on October 8, 2022, lot 11. Its size is 71 x 67 x 103 cm.
Its damascened iron strengthening places it in the earliest examples of late Ming horseshoe back folding armchairs. Its elegant plain backrest flanked with carved geometrical borders is unique in that group while the five other surviving examples have dragon or floral carvings.
#AuctionUpdate This weekend, a rare Huanghuali Folding Horseshoe-Back Armchair- offered from the collection of the late Sir Joseph Hotung- soared to $15.9 million. The price is not only a record for a Chinese chair, but is also the third highest sum paid for any chair at auction. pic.twitter.com/J8SNw0F5Gd
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) October 10, 2022
set of four Ming huanghuali armchairs
2015 SOLD for $ 9.7M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2019 before Christie's sale of another set (see below)
Zitan and huanghuali are both belonging to the category of the rosewoods. Extremely heavy and very dense, the zitan allows a deep and very fine carving. It was preferred by the emperors of China for ceremonial pieces.
Highly appreciated by the Ming, the huanghuali is a hardwood that enables to create furniture with bold shapes. Its color varies from reddish brown to golden yellow while its grains may display seductive pseudo-figurative patterns.
A set of eight Ming seats in huanghuali would be the holy grail for a collector. I do not know if such a wonder remains in private hands and the submultiples, four and two, are much in demand. The consistency of colors and grains ensures the homogeneity of a group. The virtuosity of the craftsman is also considered.
The almost square back with the top rail in the form of a yoke or of an official's hat is the guanmaoyi. A set of four folding armless chairs was sold for £ 5.3M including premium by Bonhams on November 9, 2017 over a lower estimate of £ 150K. A pair with arms was sold by Sotheby's on March 23, 2011 for $ 2.77M including premium over a lower estimate of $ 200K.
The quanyi, designating a chair with a circular back, is also known as the horseshoe-back armchair. The best craftsmen round the circle by reducing the number of elements of the crest rail, obtaining a rigidity which also makes it possible to optimize the stretchers. Despite an apparent lightness, their seats are strong.
On March 17, 2015, Christie's dispersed the Ellsworth collection. The bidders recognized the best qualities of a quanyi in the group of four that constituted the lot 41. Moreover the other two pairs that would make it possible to constitute a set of eight were identified in the catalog. Lot 41 was sold for $ 9.7M including premium over a lower estimate of $ 800K.
Another homogeneous set of four quanyi in huanghuali from the Ming period passed at Christie's on September 13, 2019, lot 878, from a lower estimate of $ 800K.
Highly appreciated by the Ming, the huanghuali is a hardwood that enables to create furniture with bold shapes. Its color varies from reddish brown to golden yellow while its grains may display seductive pseudo-figurative patterns.
A set of eight Ming seats in huanghuali would be the holy grail for a collector. I do not know if such a wonder remains in private hands and the submultiples, four and two, are much in demand. The consistency of colors and grains ensures the homogeneity of a group. The virtuosity of the craftsman is also considered.
The almost square back with the top rail in the form of a yoke or of an official's hat is the guanmaoyi. A set of four folding armless chairs was sold for £ 5.3M including premium by Bonhams on November 9, 2017 over a lower estimate of £ 150K. A pair with arms was sold by Sotheby's on March 23, 2011 for $ 2.77M including premium over a lower estimate of $ 200K.
The quanyi, designating a chair with a circular back, is also known as the horseshoe-back armchair. The best craftsmen round the circle by reducing the number of elements of the crest rail, obtaining a rigidity which also makes it possible to optimize the stretchers. Despite an apparent lightness, their seats are strong.
On March 17, 2015, Christie's dispersed the Ellsworth collection. The bidders recognized the best qualities of a quanyi in the group of four that constituted the lot 41. Moreover the other two pairs that would make it possible to constitute a set of eight were identified in the catalog. Lot 41 was sold for $ 9.7M including premium over a lower estimate of $ 800K.
Another homogeneous set of four quanyi in huanghuali from the Ming period passed at Christie's on September 13, 2019, lot 878, from a lower estimate of $ 800K.
Mr. Ellsworth's Extremely Rare and Important Set Of 4 Huanghuali Horseshoe-Back Armchairs realized $9.685million. pic.twitter.com/haHf0DKkvB
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) March 18, 2015Huanghuali Altar Table
2013 SOLD for $ 9.1M by Christie's
A monumental and massive huanghuali table, 93 cm high, 450 cm wide and 56 cm deep, was sold by Christie's on March 22, 2013 for $ 9.1M from a lower estimate of $ 1.5M, lot 1323. A single plank 7.6 cm thick is laid on a pair of pedestals, one at each end, resting on a wide shoe through a reticulated panel.
This table has a great matching of its top plank with the lower sections and it is believed that all its elements are original to each other. Its use as an altar table is probable but it could also have been used to display precious objects against a wall in a large hall.
It is certainly earlier than the Ming-Qing transition period when huanghuali went to be highly expensive from its increasing shortage so that its use in thick pieces had to be avoided.
Surviving examples of plank-top pedestal tables are very rare. Indeed they are easily demountable and often its elements did not survive together. Such furniture was conceived to be versatile, easy to move and to reassemble in a variety of configurations.
This table has a great matching of its top plank with the lower sections and it is believed that all its elements are original to each other. Its use as an altar table is probable but it could also have been used to display precious objects against a wall in a large hall.
It is certainly earlier than the Ming-Qing transition period when huanghuali went to be highly expensive from its increasing shortage so that its use in thick pieces had to be avoided.
Surviving examples of plank-top pedestal tables are very rare. Indeed they are easily demountable and often its elements did not survive together. Such furniture was conceived to be versatile, easy to move and to reassemble in a variety of configurations.
1726-1732 The Badminton cabinet
2004 SOLD 19 M£ including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
Although its architectural style is Florentine, the Beaufort-Badminton cabinet is one of a kind. It is by far the most monumental piece of furniture that has ever been produced at the Galleria dei Lavori, the workshops of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, exceeding by more than one meter in height a piece of furniture made for the Elector Palatine.
In 1726 the 3rd Duke of Beaufort, aged 19, makes his tour of Italy. He is extremely rich and desires to build an art collection. His stay in Florence was very short. It seems likely that a pre-existing project for a monumental piece of furniture was offered to him. He orders this piece, of which he has followed the make by his agents.
The piece of furniture is delivered to him in 1732. It will be known as the Badminton cabinet from the residence where the 3rd Duke installed it and where it stayed until 1990.
It was sold twice by Christie's : on July 5, 1990 for £ 8.6M including premium and on December 9, 2004 for £ 19M including premium, lot 260 (not illustrated online). It was acquired at this latter sale by Prince Hans Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein to become the central piece in the collection of pietra dura works in his private museum.
The Badminton cabinet is a piece of furniture with four superimposed ebony segments over eight pilasters, for a total height of 386 cm including the Beaufort coat of arms in finial. It is 232 cm wide and 94 cm deep.
The assembly of this piece is a tour de force of joinery. It is sumptuously decorated on front and lateral sides in pietra dura and semi-precious stones with floral themes including birds. The upper segment consists of a clock whose dial is later. The allegories of the four seasons in gilt bronze surround the clock.
In 1726 the 3rd Duke of Beaufort, aged 19, makes his tour of Italy. He is extremely rich and desires to build an art collection. His stay in Florence was very short. It seems likely that a pre-existing project for a monumental piece of furniture was offered to him. He orders this piece, of which he has followed the make by his agents.
The piece of furniture is delivered to him in 1732. It will be known as the Badminton cabinet from the residence where the 3rd Duke installed it and where it stayed until 1990.
It was sold twice by Christie's : on July 5, 1990 for £ 8.6M including premium and on December 9, 2004 for £ 19M including premium, lot 260 (not illustrated online). It was acquired at this latter sale by Prince Hans Adam II von und zu Liechtenstein to become the central piece in the collection of pietra dura works in his private museum.
The Badminton cabinet is a piece of furniture with four superimposed ebony segments over eight pilasters, for a total height of 386 cm including the Beaufort coat of arms in finial. It is 232 cm wide and 94 cm deep.
The assembly of this piece is a tour de force of joinery. It is sumptuously decorated on front and lateral sides in pietra dura and semi-precious stones with floral themes including birds. The upper segment consists of a clock whose dial is later. The allegories of the four seasons in gilt bronze surround the clock.
#ThrowbackThursday The Badminton Cabinet was sold in July 1990 in London. Commissioned in 1726 by Henry Somerset, 3rd Duke of Beaufort, it took 6 years to make & was regarded as the greatest Florentine cabinet of its time. It is on display at the Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna. pic.twitter.com/fTdEaJAm4e
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) April 16, 2020
Qianlong - A Masterpiece of Chinese Furniture
2013 SOLD 93 M RMB yuan including premium
The Chinese luxury furniture was using hardwoods that are among the finest in the world. The most prestigious is the red sandalwood or zitan, enabling refined carvings. The best cabinetmakers were specialized in the work of a specific wood.
On June 4 in Beijing, Poly International Auction sells an exceptional pair of zitan cabinets of Qianlong period whose achievement was a real technical feat.
3.25 m high, these cabinets are among the tallest known zitan furniture, although another one 4.40 m high is preserved in Beijing. Its depth of 74 cm is also exceptional. The conception of these cabinets included slits in the boards of doors and sides to relieve the pressure.
There is no evidence that the origin of this pair of furniture is imperial, but they are finely carved in high relief with patterns of dragons and lotus.
The estimate is not announced, but this lot is undoubtedly a masterpiece of Chinese furniture.
POST SALE COMMENT
There was no doubt that this pair of cabinets of large size and plenty carving is a masterpiece of Chinese furniture, and even of international furniture. It was sold for RMB yuan 93M including premium, corresponding to U.S. $ 15M.
On June 4 in Beijing, Poly International Auction sells an exceptional pair of zitan cabinets of Qianlong period whose achievement was a real technical feat.
3.25 m high, these cabinets are among the tallest known zitan furniture, although another one 4.40 m high is preserved in Beijing. Its depth of 74 cm is also exceptional. The conception of these cabinets included slits in the boards of doors and sides to relieve the pressure.
There is no evidence that the origin of this pair of furniture is imperial, but they are finely carved in high relief with patterns of dragons and lotus.
The estimate is not announced, but this lot is undoubtedly a masterpiece of Chinese furniture.
POST SALE COMMENT
There was no doubt that this pair of cabinets of large size and plenty carving is a masterpiece of Chinese furniture, and even of international furniture. It was sold for RMB yuan 93M including premium, corresponding to U.S. $ 15M.
Qianlong - The Zitan Throne
2009 SOLD 86 MHK$ including premium
As a seat, a throne is nothing but a marquise or a bench. But that name is reserved for the seats used by monarchs to meet their audience during the ceremonies. For such a prestigious use, this piece of furniture is necessarily luxurious.
The emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties enjoyed a rare wood, the zitan (tzu-t'an in the old spelling), which allowed a very fine carving. The throne for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 8 is a wide seat (1.40 m) with motifs of the usual symbol of the Chinese Empire, the Dragon. It dates from the Qianlong period and is estimated 20 MHK$, lot 1645.
This wooden throne, although rare and prestigious, will not compare with the throne that adorned the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City in Beijing. Also decorated with dragons, it was made of white marble and jade.
POST SALE COMMENT
Imperial Chinese pieces get a huge prestige at auction. There are a score of recent examples. But no furniture is more prestigious than a throne: the result, 86 MHK$ including premium, is remarkable.
Here is this exceptional lot, shared after the sale by Art Market Monitor.
The emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties enjoyed a rare wood, the zitan (tzu-t'an in the old spelling), which allowed a very fine carving. The throne for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 8 is a wide seat (1.40 m) with motifs of the usual symbol of the Chinese Empire, the Dragon. It dates from the Qianlong period and is estimated 20 MHK$, lot 1645.
This wooden throne, although rare and prestigious, will not compare with the throne that adorned the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City in Beijing. Also decorated with dragons, it was made of white marble and jade.
POST SALE COMMENT
Imperial Chinese pieces get a huge prestige at auction. There are a score of recent examples. But no furniture is more prestigious than a throne: the result, 86 MHK$ including premium, is remarkable.
Here is this exceptional lot, shared after the sale by Art Market Monitor.
1772-1785 Desk-and-Bookcase from Rhode Island
1989 SOLD for $ 12M including premium by Christie's
narrated in 2020
The Block and Shell style, denoting the ornaments of the drawers, appears around 1755 in Newport RI in the furniture made by the Townsend-Goddard dynasty of cabinetmakers. The masters of the second generation are John Townsend and John Goddard.
The Chippendale style succeeds the Queen Anne. John Goddard is probably the first to make the desk-and-bookcase which is an adaptation of the Block and Shell to the Chippendale. These pieces of furniture are not signed and very difficult to attribute to one or another master in that family. Nine examples in the six-shell design have survived, all of them in mahogany.
The Brown brothers were wealthy merchants and statesmen of Providence RI, involved in slave trade and smuggling. A Newport-style desk-and-bookcase that belonged to John Brown, 272 × 113 × 64 cm, is kept at Yale University. The piece that belonged to Nicholas Brown, 287 × 108 × 64 cm, is very similar. It had remained in the direct descent of its first owner and was sold for $ 12M including premium by Christie's on June 3, 1989.
For the attribution of these two pieces of furniture, it was noticed that Daniel Spencer, a nephew of John Goddard, had left Newport and established a workshop for the making of cabinets and chairs in Providence in 1772. The terminus ante quem is his imprisonment for debt in 1785. He ended his career in Kentucky.
The Chippendale style succeeds the Queen Anne. John Goddard is probably the first to make the desk-and-bookcase which is an adaptation of the Block and Shell to the Chippendale. These pieces of furniture are not signed and very difficult to attribute to one or another master in that family. Nine examples in the six-shell design have survived, all of them in mahogany.
The Brown brothers were wealthy merchants and statesmen of Providence RI, involved in slave trade and smuggling. A Newport-style desk-and-bookcase that belonged to John Brown, 272 × 113 × 64 cm, is kept at Yale University. The piece that belonged to Nicholas Brown, 287 × 108 × 64 cm, is very similar. It had remained in the direct descent of its first owner and was sold for $ 12M including premium by Christie's on June 3, 1989.
For the attribution of these two pieces of furniture, it was noticed that Daniel Spencer, a nephew of John Goddard, had left Newport and established a workshop for the making of cabinets and chairs in Providence in 1772. The terminus ante quem is his imprisonment for debt in 1785. He ended his career in Kentucky.
<1920 Yves Saint-Laurent in an Armchair ... made by Eileen Gray
2009 SOLD 21.9 M€ including premium
In the very large sale of the collection of the fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent, the furniture of the 20th century will be led by an armchair made by Eileen Gray.
It is a seat only 61 cm high. The sitting height is normal, but the back is small. It is large (91 cm), making it a comfortable chair. The press release from Christie's describes it as a Dragon armchair, certainly for the sculptures of its armrests. For this seat dating from about 1920-1922, prepare 2.5 million €.
In the work of Eileen Gray, other seats have generated one of the most remarkable results of auctions in recent years. On June 1, 2005 in Paris, Camard sold a set of six armchairs à la Sirène, for a total of nearly 9 million € charges included. Sold separately, these six lots were eventually divided between two buyers. They had belonged to Damia, the music hall singer woman with whom Eileen had a love affair. From a very different model from the chair of the Saint-Laurent collection, their sculpture of the women fish was enhanced by an open back.
Eileen Gray was renowned for the luxurious finish of her lacquered furniture.
The sale will be held at the Grand Palais in Paris from 23 to 25 February. It is jointly organized by Christie's and Pierre Bergé et Associés.
POST SALE COMMENT
This seat had it all. We imagine it perfectly in the middle of the living room of Yves Saint-Laurent, a famous person. It may equally be regarded as a work of art or as a piece of furniture.
Christie's has presented it as one of the top lots in the sale, from the first press release last September. The estimate probably took into account the results obtained at Drouot on the armchairs à la Sirène, remembered in my article above. Cautiously, the estimate had been made a little lower (2 M €) in the catalog than in the first releases.
As I have already written, the current crisis of confidence affects the sellers, not the buyers.
The chair of Yves Saint-Laurent by Eileen Gray was sold € 21.9 million including premium.
The low resolution image below is shared by Wikimedia for fair use :
It is a seat only 61 cm high. The sitting height is normal, but the back is small. It is large (91 cm), making it a comfortable chair. The press release from Christie's describes it as a Dragon armchair, certainly for the sculptures of its armrests. For this seat dating from about 1920-1922, prepare 2.5 million €.
In the work of Eileen Gray, other seats have generated one of the most remarkable results of auctions in recent years. On June 1, 2005 in Paris, Camard sold a set of six armchairs à la Sirène, for a total of nearly 9 million € charges included. Sold separately, these six lots were eventually divided between two buyers. They had belonged to Damia, the music hall singer woman with whom Eileen had a love affair. From a very different model from the chair of the Saint-Laurent collection, their sculpture of the women fish was enhanced by an open back.
Eileen Gray was renowned for the luxurious finish of her lacquered furniture.
The sale will be held at the Grand Palais in Paris from 23 to 25 February. It is jointly organized by Christie's and Pierre Bergé et Associés.
POST SALE COMMENT
This seat had it all. We imagine it perfectly in the middle of the living room of Yves Saint-Laurent, a famous person. It may equally be regarded as a work of art or as a piece of furniture.
Christie's has presented it as one of the top lots in the sale, from the first press release last September. The estimate probably took into account the results obtained at Drouot on the armchairs à la Sirène, remembered in my article above. Cautiously, the estimate had been made a little lower (2 M €) in the catalog than in the first releases.
As I have already written, the current crisis of confidence affects the sellers, not the buyers.
The chair of Yves Saint-Laurent by Eileen Gray was sold € 21.9 million including premium.
The low resolution image below is shared by Wikimedia for fair use :
1952 The Primordial Chandelier
2018 SOLD for £ 7.6M including premium
In 1947 and 1948 Alberto Giacometti defined his existentialist pantheon with his primordial trinity and some accessories including the cage.
For their friends the Giacometti brothers also remain the pre-war decorators who created models of furnishing for Frank. Diego continues in this specialty and Alberto still accepts some private orders. A plaster chandelier with geometric figures made by Alberto in 1954 for the Tériade apartment was sold for £ 2.05M including premium by Phillips on April 26, 2017.
Louis Broder was a Swiss publisher. For his Paris apartment he commissioned in 1948 to Alberto a chandelier adorned with his new characters. The original plaster, 60 cm high and 136 cm in diameter, was supplied in 1949 or 1950 to Broder and donated in 1983 by Berggruen to the Centre Pompidou.
This private work is an interesting synthesis of Giacometti's metaphysics. The central position is a gloriette in which the Femme debout opens her arms, holding two side columns as if she was ready to go out for discovering the world. She has the main role, superseding the ephemeral Homme au doigt.
The Homme qui marche starts away from the cage in a centrifugal force that ignores the existence of the woman. Smaller than her, he does not have the importance he would like to have. The trinity is completed on the other side by a bird. The four lights are installed in crocus flowers.
In 1952 Alberto made three bronzes of this chandelier, also for Broder. One of them is estimated £ 6M for sale by Sotheby's in London on February 28, lot 4.
For their friends the Giacometti brothers also remain the pre-war decorators who created models of furnishing for Frank. Diego continues in this specialty and Alberto still accepts some private orders. A plaster chandelier with geometric figures made by Alberto in 1954 for the Tériade apartment was sold for £ 2.05M including premium by Phillips on April 26, 2017.
Louis Broder was a Swiss publisher. For his Paris apartment he commissioned in 1948 to Alberto a chandelier adorned with his new characters. The original plaster, 60 cm high and 136 cm in diameter, was supplied in 1949 or 1950 to Broder and donated in 1983 by Berggruen to the Centre Pompidou.
This private work is an interesting synthesis of Giacometti's metaphysics. The central position is a gloriette in which the Femme debout opens her arms, holding two side columns as if she was ready to go out for discovering the world. She has the main role, superseding the ephemeral Homme au doigt.
The Homme qui marche starts away from the cage in a centrifugal force that ignores the existence of the woman. Smaller than her, he does not have the importance he would like to have. The trinity is completed on the other side by a bird. The four lights are installed in crocus flowers.
In 1952 Alberto made three bronzes of this chandelier, also for Broder. One of them is estimated £ 6M for sale by Sotheby's in London on February 28, lot 4.
1964 Rhinocrétaire by Lalanne
2023 SOLD for € 18.3M by Christie's
After the death of Yves Klein, two couples try to awaken French art. Jeanine de Goldschmidt, companion of Pierre Restany, is the manager of the Galerie J, opened in 1961. The Nouveaux Réalistes movement was ephemeral but opened the way to a playful and heterogeneous art, appropriating the industrial object.
In 1964 at the Galerie J manages in 1964 the Zoophites exhibition is highlighted by François-Xavier Lalanne's Rhinocrétaire in the shop window and by the Choupatte and Montre Oignon of his companion and future wife Claude Lalanne. These biomorphic works can be used as pieces of furniture.
Their conceptions and their product lines are slightly different. François-Xavier maintains the functionality of his models of furniture even when they are zoomorphic. Claude creates decorative objects for the living room or the garden with an unlimited imagination. Before them Fornasetti had changed the decoration of the furniture but not the shape.
The Rhinocrétaire is hiding a desk, a bar, a safe and tubes for holding bottles in the inspiration of the French 18th century meubles à secrets. The seminal example, 145 x 300 x 100 cm extended and 120 x 283 x 70 folded, is made of brass, bronze, zinc, leather, natural wax plus a light source. It was acquired in Galerie J by the mother of Jeanine de Goldschmidt-Restany after the original show. It was sold for € 18.3M from a lower estimate of € 4M by Christie's on October 20, 2023, lot 201.
The world of fashion is charmed by their inventions. Beside the zoomorphic, François-Xavier offers custom furniture in which the unconventional position and shape of cases and pots meets a functional need.
The bar in metal supplied in 1965 to Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé is equipped with an ovoid bottle rack, a shaker in the shape of a cornucopia and a spherical ice bucket. It was sold in February 2009 by Christie's and Pierre Bergé et Associés for € 2.75M.
The drawing board prepared from 1964 to meet the demands of Karl Lagerfeld was delivered to him in 1966. In an inspiration very similar to the YSL bar, this tray with adjustable inclination is equipped with glass and metal containers for pencils and brushes, an adjoining surface for preparing colors, a spherical storage box and a light source. This KL table was sold for € 750K by Sotheby's on May 3, 2018, lot 156.
Les Lalanne accumulate new subjects without terminating the old themes. On 23 and 24 October, 2019, Sotheby's sold the works that they were keeping in their home and studio near Fontainebleau. The lot 13 , sold for € 5.4M, was a Rhinocrétaire 2.55 m long in welded metal. Opening the beast unfolds the desk. This unique piece made in 1991 was certainly executed for the personal use of the artist.
A piece identified as Grand Rhinocéros II and Grand Rhinocrétaire II was sold for € 5.5M by Sotheby's on May 24, 2022, lot 140. This piece 250 x 145 x 61 cm had been designed in 2002. This posthumous example is number 7/8 by Bocquel, dated 2017, in gilt patinated bronze and brass with leather.
In 1964 at the Galerie J manages in 1964 the Zoophites exhibition is highlighted by François-Xavier Lalanne's Rhinocrétaire in the shop window and by the Choupatte and Montre Oignon of his companion and future wife Claude Lalanne. These biomorphic works can be used as pieces of furniture.
Their conceptions and their product lines are slightly different. François-Xavier maintains the functionality of his models of furniture even when they are zoomorphic. Claude creates decorative objects for the living room or the garden with an unlimited imagination. Before them Fornasetti had changed the decoration of the furniture but not the shape.
The Rhinocrétaire is hiding a desk, a bar, a safe and tubes for holding bottles in the inspiration of the French 18th century meubles à secrets. The seminal example, 145 x 300 x 100 cm extended and 120 x 283 x 70 folded, is made of brass, bronze, zinc, leather, natural wax plus a light source. It was acquired in Galerie J by the mother of Jeanine de Goldschmidt-Restany after the original show. It was sold for € 18.3M from a lower estimate of € 4M by Christie's on October 20, 2023, lot 201.
The world of fashion is charmed by their inventions. Beside the zoomorphic, François-Xavier offers custom furniture in which the unconventional position and shape of cases and pots meets a functional need.
The bar in metal supplied in 1965 to Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé is equipped with an ovoid bottle rack, a shaker in the shape of a cornucopia and a spherical ice bucket. It was sold in February 2009 by Christie's and Pierre Bergé et Associés for € 2.75M.
The drawing board prepared from 1964 to meet the demands of Karl Lagerfeld was delivered to him in 1966. In an inspiration very similar to the YSL bar, this tray with adjustable inclination is equipped with glass and metal containers for pencils and brushes, an adjoining surface for preparing colors, a spherical storage box and a light source. This KL table was sold for € 750K by Sotheby's on May 3, 2018, lot 156.
Les Lalanne accumulate new subjects without terminating the old themes. On 23 and 24 October, 2019, Sotheby's sold the works that they were keeping in their home and studio near Fontainebleau. The lot 13 , sold for € 5.4M, was a Rhinocrétaire 2.55 m long in welded metal. Opening the beast unfolds the desk. This unique piece made in 1991 was certainly executed for the personal use of the artist.
A piece identified as Grand Rhinocéros II and Grand Rhinocrétaire II was sold for € 5.5M by Sotheby's on May 24, 2022, lot 140. This piece 250 x 145 x 61 cm had been designed in 2002. This posthumous example is number 7/8 by Bocquel, dated 2017, in gilt patinated bronze and brass with leather.
