Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann

Acquired from Edward G. Collord, auctioneer, United States Appraisers Stores, New York, August 1942, by Mr. and Mrs. Edward H. Butler, Buffalo, NY
Thence by descent to the present owner

Les Arts de la Maison, éd. Albert Morancé, 1924, plate V (for the original drawings of the model)
Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes Paris 1925, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1925, p. 82 (for the famed model in macassar ebony veneer, in the Grand Salon of the Hotel du Collectioneur)
Bernard Champigneulle, “Métamorphoses du Piano,” Art et Industrie, July 1946, p. 121 (for an unidentified example of the model)
Pierre Kjellberg, Art Deco: Les Maîtres du Mobilier, Paris, 1981, p. 161 (for the model in American walnut and sycamore)
Florence Camard, Ruhlmann: Master of Art Deco, New York, 1984, p. 92 (for the model in macassar ebony in the Grand Salon of the Hotel du Collectioneur)
Emmanuel Bréon and Rosalind Pepall, Ruhlmann: Genius of Art Deco, Montreal, 2004, p. 46 (for a period photograph of the model in macassar ebony)
Florence Camard, Ruhlmann, Paris, 2009, p. 188 (for the model in macassar ebony, photographed at Sotheby’s Paris)

Overall very good original condition. The piano case retains its original finish, and has been lovingly maintained and played by the present family for nearly its entire life. The American walnut veneer, which covers the majority of the case, has numerous minor losses, chips, nicks, and losses to the finish. None of these issues take anything away from the overall power and presence of the piece, nor detracts from the essential integrity of its current state. The following notes represent a summary of these issues, and are not encyclopedic in their documentation. The lid has light crazing throughout the exterior surface, while the interior presents its original color and finish in a superb fashion, which could be matched by a conservator placed in charge of waxing and restoring the exterior. When the lid is raised, there are visible losses to the veneer in several places along the brass hinge, and there are tiny chips and losses along all edges. One noticeable inch-long veneer loss is at the center of the bottom edge of the raised lid’s front. The music stand with minor losses to the finish along the edges. The entire stand is removable, and on the back left edge of the rounded rectangular platform on the left side is a significant veneer loss, an inch square. The proper right side of the case (the main body of the piano) has two old circular patches in the center, each the size of an American dime. There is an 8-inch horizontal crack to the veneer near the back of this side, and there are several vertical slivers of ancient infill in the same region, near the bottom. The back side of the case has a horizontal crack to the veneer, bisecting the entire side at the midpoint. There is also a noticeable loss to the veneer, less than an inch square, to the lower left of this side. The convex proper left side of the case is in superb shape, with less surface disruptions than the opposite side. The only noteworthy flaws are a cross-shaped dent, less than an inch square, with ancient reddish re-finish over it, and a six-inch horizontal crack to the veneer near the back. There are minor chips and losses to all edges of the entire case, with the highest concentration of them in the front corners to the sides of the keyboard, probably from the lid being raised and lowered. These particular areas of loss expose the solid macassar wood which is also used for the front panel and interior sections, is apparently underneath the walnut veneer in at least the front section of the piano (the rest of the solid wood underneath the lid and rest of the case is probably oak) and is in excellent condition. The Elephant ivory detailing includes scroll trim along the two front corners of the piano, which has significant crackling, yellowing, and minor losses, especially in the proper left scroll, where at the midpoint is a damaged area from impact where the ivory has been pulverized like eggshell, yet remains in place, although rough to the touch. The ivory decorative keyhole on the lid has several vertical age cracks, and the yellow-varnished ivory signature plaque has several horizontal lines. The ivory keys are in superb shape. The piano rests on heavy bronze feet which were clearly custom-fitted for use on the ocean liner, and which are oxidized and pitted. The piano was professionally tuned in February, after being in storage for approximately ten years. The sounding board was professionally restored but not replaced in the 1980s. Currently the piano is certainly playable in a private setting, but would need significant further tuning and maintenance to restore it to a concert level. We can provide the name of our piano tuner upon request, should one desire a comprehensive report or lengthier conversation with a professional. The Gaveau archives are currently maintained by the Pleyal firm, and we hope to learn more information on the exact dating of the piano works in the near future. The latest date on the extensive Gaveau advertising on the sounding board (visible in several detail photographs in the catalogue) is the 1925 Exposition. There are also several unknown metal inventory tags, possibly from the ship. In summary, this historic piano will benefit from a professional restoration to the veneer as well as additional fine-tuning of its works. It is a powerful statement of Ruhlmann’s mastery, and is an extraordinarily handsome piece when viewed in person.
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.

The historian John Maxtone-Graham, in his 2007 monograph Normandie, makes a point to emphasize Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann’s impact on the legendary French Art Deco ocean liner. “Ruhlmann’s influence dictated all her interiors, his legacy the source for the world’s art deco river. His brilliance never eclipsed, Ruhlmann inspired disciples, successors and rivals alike. He and fellow members of the Groupe Ruhlmann not only wrought the interiors of steamships Ile de France, L’Atlantique and Normandie, but also influenced decorative resonances throughout every passenger vessel to the present.”[i]

 

Over the past three decades, as much of the greatest furniture and artwork by Ruhlmann, Dupas, and Dunand for Normandie and other great liners owned by the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT) has been rediscovered and sold at auction in New York and Paris, it is easy to blur the boundaries between the commissions when it comes to understanding Ruhlmann’s exact contributions to each of the ships. Ruhlmann’s collaboration with the architect Pierre Patout at L’Hôtel d’un Collectionneur in the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes led to the CGT hiring each of them to design major rooms for the liner Île de France (1927), with Ruhlmann creating the first-class Salon de Thé, noteworthy for its monumental urn-form lamps with porcelain shades produced by Sèvres.  Patout then served as the chief interior designer of L’Atlantique (1931), but Ruhlmann did not participate at all. It is at this time, when leafing through the period articles devoted to this “curiously neglected”[ii] liner that one sees photographs with the byline Ruhlmann, but this in fact refers to an unrelated ferronnier, André Ruhlmann, who was responsible for ballustrades on both this ship and later Normandie.

 

It is has been written that Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann was meant to be part of the team of France’s most prestigious designers assembled to design the interior of Normandie in 1932,[iii] but his death in 1933 was prior to any of the furniture being designed and produced for the interiors. Instead, his spirit was present in the overall layout and extravagant decorative schemes of the ship’s main areas of entertainment.  Ruhlmann’s friend, collaborator, and designer of his tomb, Pierre Patout, once again served as a principal architect of the interior, along with Richard Bouwens de Boijen and Roger-Henri Expert. The latter two architects co-designed les petits salons, which were located in the forward corners of the Grand Salon. Nicknamed “Melody and Milady,” these spaces were meant to be lounges of rest and letter-writing, where one could enjoy a quiet cocktail or gather around a piano for an intimate sing-along[iv]. Expert’s preliminary sketch for Petit Salon des Dames (lot 124A) depicts elegantly dressed couples in a spacious setting, having drinks around a central grand piano; the principal decoration is a landscape panel of the Seine. The furniture, including the piano, looks rather traditional, with Aubusson upholsteries and Directoire styling.

 

The final result, as seen in several period photos including one in Art et Decoration (fig. 2) shows a much smaller room, cramped with Art Deco furnishings, with the only connection to the original sketch the river landscape, which was painted by Louis Graux. The caption that appears in Art et Decoration, “Bouwens de Boijen et Expert. Arch. Décoration de Ruhlmann,” is slightly misleading, since Ruhlmann had died in 1933, and his firm had been dissolved. However, according to Louis-René Vian, furniture from Ruhlmann’s estate was provided by his former employees in homage to their departed chief. Examination of all period views of les petits salons shows the piano and at least four other major pieces by Ruhlmann, of the type that would have been produced by his atelier during his lifetime, outlining the rooms, while the chairs, side tables and especially the piano bench appear to be pieces produced by Ruhlmann’s nephew Alfred Porteneuve, who was awarded the rights in his uncle’s will to execute a small number of his designs.

 

During Normandie’s brief reign as “Queen of the Seas,” among the many American passengers were Mr. and Mrs. Edward Butler of Buffalo. Accompanied by their daughter Kate Butler Wickham, they made several crossings of the Atlantic, and after the liner’s tragic demise in New York Harbor, they attended one of the auctions held in New York starting in 1942 to disperse the contents of the ship. They acquired a few of the furnishings, bidding on pieces that they personally remembered from their voyages, including the present lot, a magnificent grand piano. Surviving records of these auctions are scarce: There were virtually no descriptions of the furniture, none of the designers were mentioned by name, and in some cases there were literally hundreds of chairs sold in a single lot. In the first 1942 auction, six pianos were sold, their prices ranging from $80 to $700[v]. This number includes the present lot; a monumental Concert Grand piano (designer and present whereabouts unknown) from the Grand Salon; and pianos from the four Appartements de Grand Luxe, each unique and executed by the designers of the suites: Leleu, Süe, Dominique, and Montagnac.

 

Following the purchase of the Ruhlmann piano at auction in 1942, it resided for decades in the opulent Georgian-revival Butler Mansion in Buffalo, designed by Stanford White. But family members could not make out the signature on the ivory plaque, and in 1993, they submitted a photo of the piano to Maxtone-Graham, who was editor of The Ocean Liner Gazette.  John Maxtone-Graham could not identify the signature either, but believed the piano to be from the Grand Salon[vi]. In a subsequent issue, the historian David Powers correctly identified it as the lost piano by Ruhlmann from the Ladies’s Drawing and Music Room.  Maxtone-Graham would also prove to be partly correct, as Louis-Rene Vian in his 1996 book illustrated a period photograph of the present lot being used as a second piano in the orchestra in the Grand Salon. 

 

Now that this masterwork, never before photographed in color, has appeared on the market, it finally can be compared to other known examples of Ruhlmann’s pianos, of which there are several distinct designs. It is clearly the same model as the iconic piano sheathed in macassar ebony designed for L’Hôtel d’un Collectionneur, (Fig. 3)[vii], which was placed under Dupas’s famed painting, Les Perruches in arguably the most influential room of the French Art Deco period, the Grand Salon designed by Patout. And in many ways, this makes sense. The Grand Salon of L’Hôtel d’un Collectionneur serves as the prototype for every spacious salon of the great French liners, including Normandie. It is only fitting, and fortuitous, that Ruhlmann’s estate had this piano available when it was determined to decorate a room on board in homage to the master.

 

It remains unclear exactly how many pianos were produced by Ruhlmann, and how many of each design. Estimates range from six to nine, but there are only six pianos which have been fully catalogued and photographed in the past three decades, of which three (including the present lot) are the exact model. In Ruhlmann’s second numbering system, the present piano’s model, no. 2488, is listed being owned by two French families, but it is unclear if these families still own them, or if they are accounted for in the examples that have appeared at auction[viii]. The other known identical example of the model, its case veneered in American walnut like the present lot, but with a sycamore interior (fig 4) was sold ten years ago at auction[ix].

 

In addition to these three documented pianos of the same exact design with works by Gaveau (differing only in their employment of veneers and decoration), a fourth piano, also with Gaveau movement, of similar design but with an exaggerated geometric case and squared legs, has surfaced at auction in recent years[x]. A fifth piano, with more traditional supports and forms, the works by Erard, and with a delicate ivory lattice pattern cover, was also shown by Ruhlmann in the 1925 Exposition in the Ambassadre Française. It is now in the collection of the Musée de Montauban, in the south of France[xi]. The sixth and final well-documented piano, of more traditional S-shape but finished in Ruhlmann’s favored modernist black lacquer and silvered metal of his later years, and with works by Pleyel, was exhibited in the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs in 1929[xii]

 

There are several other Ruhlmann piano mysteries yet to be solved. What for example, to make of the grainy photograph showing a Ruhlmann-esque piano in his interior scheme for the Salon de Thé of the Île de France?[xiii]  What family originally ordered the present lot from Ruhlmann in the first place, only to not finalize the purchase, thus letting it languish in his inventory until it was brought onto Normandie?  But what is clear about the present piano from Normandie is that it epitomizes the finest refinements of Ruhlmann’s contribution to 20^th Century furniture design. In exploding the traditional s-shape piano form, and creating a voluptuous convex modern case, from the elegant lyre-shaped pedal support to the sumptuous use of ivory trim on the case and legs and the solid macassar ebony on the interior, it is a superb variation of the piano from the most important room of French Art Deco. It is also blessed with the provenance of the most revered ocean liner of the era, and after being lovingly preserved by the descendants of the Butler family for 70 years, is now ready to find its next port of call.

[i][i] John Maxtone-Graham, Normandie: France’s Legendary Ocean Liner, New York, 2007, p. 33

[ii]Ibid., p. 38

[iii]Philippe Rivoirard, “Ruhlmann, Architecture, and Architects,” Ruhlmann: Genius of Art Deco, Montreal 2004, p. 88

[iv]Louis-René Vian, Arts Décoratifs à Bord des Paquebots Français. Paris, 1992, p. 200

[v]Harvey Ardman, “The Ship That Died of Carelessness,” American Heritage, December 1983, p. 69

[vi]“The Grand Piano from Normandie’s Grand Salon is Alive, Well and Playable in Upstate New York,” The Ocean Liner Gazette, John Maxtone-Graham, Editor, Winter/Spring 1993, p. 16

[vii]The 1925 Exposition piano has been sold twice at auction. First appearing in Christie’s New York, November 29, 1999, Lot 102, it was recently sold in Sotheby’s Paris, June 4, 2009, Lot 89

[viii]For example, the provenance of the iconic 1925 example can only be traced back a few decades

[ix]This example of the model has also been sold twice at auction: First appearing in Sotheby’s Monaco, March 11. 1984, Lot 216, it was later sold in Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg, New York, December 11, 2002, Lot 27

[x]Formerly in the Foulk-Lewis Collection, this piano has been sold twice at auction: Christie’s New York, May 26, 1983, Lot 281, and Christie’s New York, December 10, 2002, Lot 95

[xi]See Florence Camard, Ruhlmann: Master of Art Deco, New York, 1984, p. 262

[xii]Ibid., p. 263. According to the catalogue entry for the 1925 Exposition piano in Christie’s New York, November 29, 1999, Lot 102, this piano is in a private Philadelphia collection

[xiii]Henri Clouzot, “Le Pacquebot Ile-de-France,” La Renaissance de L’Art Français et des Industries de Luxe, February 1928, p. 101 for this photograph. Present whereabouts of the piano are unknown.