Jean-Michel Frank

This lot is offered together with a certificate from the Comité Jean-Michel Frank.

Minimalist in formal composition and elegant in proportion, the present pair of side tables are emblematic of the streak of modernism that runs through the oeuvre of French designer Jean-Michel Frank. Dated to the late 1920s, the tables are indicative of the defining modernist trope - their form reduced to only what is necessary. The tables retain their luxurious essence and emit a sense of refinement and warmth often lacking in interwar modernist furniture. In part due to this balance, Frank’s furniture and interior design practice became well known throughout the late 1920s and 1930s as he completed projects for prominent patrons such as Vicomte de Noailles and Nelson Rockefeller. Frank’s understated luxurious style was accomplished through the use of simple, reduced geometric forms, often inspired by classical furniture, combined with fine, rare woods and exotic materials. The present pair of side tables are indicative of this language; a soft leather top rests on a thin frame of gilt metal while four thin legs taper as they reach the floor – a truly graceful form in exquisitely selected materials.