Marcel Coard

Private Collection, France
Christie's New York, June 13, 2006, lot 57
Acquired from the above by the present owner

"Le Studio de Jacques Doucet," L'Illustration, May 1930, p. 14  (for related works designed for the interior of noted collector, Jacques Doucet, in the 1930s)
J. Gallotti, "Marcel Coard", Art et Décoration, Paris, September 1932, pp.  277-288 (for other works by the designer)
Victor Arwas, Art Deco, New York, 1980, p. 73 (for other works by the designer created for the studio of Jacques Doucet, Neuilly)
Yvonne Brunhammer, The Art Deco Style, New York, 1983, p. 79 (for other works by the designer)
Alastair Duncan, Art Deco Furniture: The French Designers, New York, 1984, figs. 34-36
Pierre Kjellberg, Art Déco: Les Maîtres du Mobilier, Le Décor des Paquebots, Paris, 2000, p. 61 (for a related commode executed with a eggshell lacquer finish)

Overall excellent condition. The surfaces of this side table are extraordinary in the detailing and execution. The eggshell lacquer which covers the piece is in excellent condition with no losses or lifting. The eggshell has been executed to perfection, with great depth in color showing deep contrasts between the white eggshell, black lacquer and hues of brown. Please see the interior front cover of the print catalogue or sothebys.com for a detailed photograph of the eggshell decoration. With minor oxidation to the sabot and chromium plated ball elements under the top of the table. The coloration throughout the table is consistent with age and use. A rare opportunity to acquire a masterwork by Coard in truly exceptional condition and displaying the pinnacle of the artist's design and execution.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Marcel Coard's great strength lays in the fact that most of his pieces were unique designs. As he said in an interview  in 1973: 'I have always avoided repeating myself. There has never been any question of my working in series.' His furniture designs were mostly for private commissioners, notably the couturier Jacques Doucet, the stockbroker Paul Cocteau, France's Mobilier National, and the jewellery designer Suzanne Belperron. Initially influenced by Doucet's taste for African and Byzantine arts, his designs became more personal in 1927 with his use of pure outlines and richer materials. The table presented here stands as a perfect instance of such an evolution.

Everything about this table is refined and precious: the delicately curved legs; the detailing of the silvered metal balls surmounted by square plaques, the raised top on larger silvered metal balls, and most notably, the all-over dark eggshell lacquering. 

Restored to fashion by the French dinandier Jean Dunand, eggshell inlay is a process pioneered by the Japanese to adorn sabre handles and scabbards. Once the eggs washed and the membrane and other internal residue removed, the shell is delicately crushed and sifted. The tiny particles obtained are assembled on a layer of fresh lacquer as in a mosaic; they are then sanded down to smooth the surface and finally covered up with a new layer of lacquer to fill in the gaps. In order to recall the brownish aspect of the eggshell, Marcel Coard used a black lacquer for this table. The pieces of eggshell are enclosed in adjacent rectangles delimited by the black lacquer, thus forming lines visible to the naked eye.

The presence of eggshell on the entire piece is the most striking feature of the table. Due to the difficulty involved in working and mastering eggshell, as well as the intense labour required, it was solely used to adorn tops, drawers or legs – as illustrated by a dozen or so works by Marcel Coard, where only the main element or top is covered in eggshell. Such sophistication is taken to the extremes with this table. It is very much a showpiece item with its flamboyant use of eggshell, its feet protected by silvered metal balls and the airiness of the design due to the supported raised top typical of Coard's work in the early 1930s. As the only known item of Coard furniture to be entirely covered in eggshell, this table is undeniably a unique collector piece.

Amélie Marcilhac
November 2011

This piece will be included in the upcoming book by Amélie Marcilhac on the artist to be published in the spring of 2012.