HENRI AGUESSE | DESK AND CHAIR

Tajan, Paris, May 28, 2002, lot 29

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Pavillon de Marsan, Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, February 18-April 10, 1928

René Chavance, "Bureaux de Dames," Art et Décoration, April 1928, p. 105 (for the present lot illustrated)

Alastair Duncan, Art Deco Furniture, London, 1984, pl. 5

Pierre Kjellberg, Art Déco: Les Maîtres du Mobilier, le Décor des Paquebots, Paris, 1986, p. 33 (for the present lot illustrated)

Pierre Kjellberg, Le Mobilier du XXème siècle, Paris, 1994, p. 42 (for the present lot illustrated)

Alastair Duncan, Art Deco Complete, Paris, 2010, p. 21 (for the present lot illustrated)

In early 1928, the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs organized an exhibition on Le bureau de dame et son siège (“women's desk and its chair”). This exhibition was the result of a contest launched in June 1927 by the U.C.A.D. on this specific theme. Of the 24 submissions they received, six were selected for the exhibition and the U.C.A.D. financed their creation. Eminent designers of the time, such as Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, René Herbst, Dominique, Louis Sognot and Jules Leleu were also asked to produce ladies’ desks for the event. Two of Aguesse's projects were selected and displayed: an elegant sycamore, shagreen and ivory desk as well as the present lot, a much more avant-garde vision of the theme. Decidedly modernist in spirit, this desk incorporates a lacquered wood storage unit on one side and sleek, arched legs on the other, connected via a stunning eggshell desktop. The original matching chair includes a base with red lacquer and patinated steel that mirrors the structure of the desk. The creative combination of exquisite materials emblematic of the Art Deco era is executed with the adroitness and skill of the most respected cabinetmakers of the time, simultaneously evoking the sophistication of Armand Albert Rateau and the modernism of Paul Frankl, while remaining distinctly original. This set is the only example of the model known to exist, making this offering an exciting opportunity for Art Deco collectors to acquire an exceptional work of tremendous historical importance.