Incollect Magazine - Issue 8

Pierre Chapo also sought radical simplicity in his designs as well as in the construction of his furniture. Chapo was a master woodworker, working mainly with oak, ash, and solid elm wood. His forms are direct and industrial in appearance and have often been associated with Brutalist design. He was focused on proportion, scale, balance, and hand craftsmanship, allowing the natural wood to dictate some of the decision-making as to the final shape and form. He was more a maker than a designer and should be compared properly to George Nakashima and other studio woodcraft artists. Guillerme et Chambron, the design team of designers Robert Guillerme and Jacques Chambron, formed the company Votre Maison in 1949 after they partnered with Émile Dariosecq, a French woodworker and shop owner. Together they produced beautiful, functional wood furniture like their famous high-back “Repos” lounge chair with long wooden spindles, lightly curved reaching upward like fingers atop carved solid wood armrests and carved wood legs. Elegant simplicity is again the guiding aesthetic sensibility, with attention to detail and finish. Though lesser known in the American collectible design world than some other mid-century French designers, Guillerme et Chambron created designs that have proven timeless. Much of their work has a contemporary look and feel, mixing easily into any interior. “Everything turns in the world of taste,” says dealer Eric Appel, long an admirer and avid collector of Guillerme et Chambron. “Things look right at a certain moment in time. But a lot of French mid-century design has never gone out of style. This is hard to say about other designers of the 20th century.” “T 1927” model stools made of painted steel with wood veneered tops, along with innovative sconces combining blocky alabaster panels suspended in a steel metal armature. He also designed iron- framed chairs with woven cane seats which are somewhat rare and highly prized by collectors. Chareau, an architect and designer, built France's first house made entirely of steel and glass called Maison de Verre. Sheet steel was used by other mid-century French designers, among them Pierre Guariche and Serge Mouille. Guariche was a versatile and flamboyant designer who created the “Tonneau” chair, the first molded plywood chair (with black enameled iron tubing legs) mass-manufactured by Steiner in the 1950s. Today it is a modern design icon along with his sheet metal luminaires, which often feature design details like hidden light sources, perforated metal surfaces, and slender leg structures. The models “G30”, “G21” and “G1” are sculptural floor lamps on circular or triangular tripod lacquered metal bases topped with variously curved, lacquered, and perforated sheet metal reflectors that diffuse and give off a soft filtered ambient light. Mouille studied metallurgy and graduated in silversmithing, and in the 1950s began designing versatile, functional light fixtures and lamps. Always sculptural in design, they were made of various metals with pivoting arms and swiveling shades. René Gabriel was another mid-century French designer who toyed with geometry. Gabriel created many memorable designs, most famously for lounge or club chairs, often with sharply angled arms attached to a gridded seat and backrest supports. His chair designs embody modern aesthetics in a pure unadulterated form — elegantly simple and functional. 108 www.incollect.com René Gabriel lounge chair. Black lacquered frame, grid back, bouclé upholstered cushions. France, circa 1950s-60s. From Galerie André Hayat on Incollect.com Serge Mouille original vintage sconce. Hand-hammered, black lacquer with brass details, adjustable shade and arm. France, circa 1958. From Conjeaud & Chappey on Incollect.com