Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann

Private Collection
Versailles Enchères, Perrin-Royère-Lajeunesse, July 6, 1996, lot 62
Claude and Simone Dray, Paris
Christie’s Paris, Collection Claude et Simone Dray, June 8, 2006, lot 162
Acquired from the above by the present owners

Florence Camard, Ruhlmann: Master of Art Deco, Paris, 1984, pp. 148-149 and 297 (for period photographs of the model)
Florence Camard, Ruhlmann, Paris, 2009, p. 150 (for a period photograph of the model in the dining room of Monsieur Berger, Ruhlmann's main supplier of exotic woods)
Ruhlmann un génie de l'Art Déco, exh. cat., Musée des Années 30, Paris, 2002, p. 16 (for a period photograph of the model exhibited at the Société des Artistes Décorateurs, 1925)

Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann was one of the greatest ensembliers of the Art Deco period. Ruhlmann considered decorative elements such as lighting, rugs, and mirrors a great support to his furniture, and he designed them with an equally focused approach. Ruhlmann’s early years were categorized by an embrace of non-traditional materials marked by the 1920s that leaned towards the luxurious and sumptuous– a style referred to as “Ruhlmannism.”

Taking advantage of new machine technologies developed after World War I, Ruhlmann used bronze to craft ornate bases for the lamps. He specifically applied a fluting technique to each stem, activating and enhancing the sophistication of the material. A pine cone motif sits centrally on the hexagonal bases while frosted glass beads cascade from each lamp’s alabaster shade. A similar wall lamp and chandelier version of the present lot was later designed and exhibited by Ruhlmann in the Hôtel du Collectionneur as part of the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs of 1925.