Rare Jean Prouve Table

A Rare Table by the French Architect Jean Prouve.

A rare table by the visionary French Architect Jean Prouve (1901- 1984 ) and Architect Jacques Andre (1901-1985) is set for Auction at Christie’s London October 3rd, 2017. Lot # 38.  The Christie’s Sale ” Masterpieces of Design” is an interesting combination of Furniture and Photography.

A couple of years ago a friend who is a talented Interior Designer sent me a picture of a pretty “wild” chair and asked me if I could build a similar style chair for one of her clients.  Recently in the upcoming  Christie’s 10/3/17 sale, I came across the “Garden Table”  that belonged to the same collection as the unusual chair.  I had no previous knowledge of the chair or the small collection at the time.  I did some research and found only one chair in the collection Vitra Design Museum in Germany.

 

 

It turns out the chair was part of a truly unique group of furniture designed by Jean Prouve and Jacques Andre for the Union des Artistes Modern (UAM) exhibition in 1937. Jean Prouve was a founding member of the French (UAM) that included luminaries such as Pierre Chareau, Rene Herbst, LeCorbusier, Charlotte Perriand, and Robert Mallett Stevens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The group of two chairs and four tables was shown only one time at the Garden Pavillion of the (UAM) in 1937.  The collection had to be withdrawn from the Exhibition because the innovative plastic “cellulose acetate” was failing in the sunlight.  The plastic was in the early stages of development for the aircraft industry and what was the beginning of modern Plexiglass.  The unique table in the Christie’s Sale has been in a private collection for many years. The chair in the Vitra Museum has been restored using modern “Perspex”. One other chair is in a private collection and the balance of this extraordinary collection remains a furniture mystery.