Paul Poiret

The present armchair was designed for the living room of Paul Poiret's péniche, poetically named "Amours." The "Amours" was one of the architect’s three houseboats, which were moored at the foot of the Eiffel Tower and open to visitors during the 1925 Paris exhibition. Produced by Atelier Martine, which he founded in 1911 and named after his daughter, the chair exists in various—and more common— iterations and in different colors and lacquer treatments. The design exhibits the influences of the Wiener Werkstätte and Josef Hoffmann's Stoclet Palace on Poiret, a stylistic departure from the floral textiles and colorful furniture pieces otherwise produced by the Atelier. Through the geometric and grid-like patterns around the seat, the chair also shows the influence of avant-garde Scottish designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh in its approach to form and composition. Previously held in the collection of Karl Lagerfeld, the present example in lacquered wood exhibits exceptional texture and color that beautifully complements its sober structure.