Pair of armchairs, by Jacques Quinet (1918-1992), France, circa 1955

Pair of armchairs designed by Jacques Quinet for the office of the President of the former Chamber of Commerce in Caen (Calvados).
The upholstery is new and they are covered in Alma velvet by Maison Bisson-Bruneel.
Width: 71 cm (28 inches)
Depth: 85 cm (33.5 inches)
Total height: 86 cm (33.85 inches)
Seat height: 45,5 cm (17.9 inches)

Biography: Jacques Quinet (1918 - 1992)

Born in Lisieux on April 5th, 1918,Jacques Quinet began studying architecture before being drafted in 1940. Since 1946, he has devoted himself to interior architecture and decoration. From 1947 onwards, he took part in the Art et Industrie, Le Siège au Pavillon de Marsan and Salon des Artistes Décorateurs exhibitions, then in the following years in various events in France and abroad. In 1954, he was commissioned by the French Ministry of the Merchant Navy to organize France’s participation in the International Navigation Exhibition in Naples, where his work was awarded an honorary diploma.

In 1950, the Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes commissioned him to design the liner “La Bourdonnais” and, in 1954, the cargo ships “Godavery” and “Moonie”.

He carried out major works for the headquarters on rue de Varenne and for the Bouchet Atomic Energy Center, the offices of one of the delegates to the O.E.C.E., the vacation camps at Oye Plage and Saint Cergues les Voirons for Société Louvroil Montbard Aulnoye, and the polychrome and interior architecture for Société des Eaux d’Evian.

The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique called on him again in 1960 to fit out mixed cargo ships: Mississipi, Fort de France and Fort Niagara.
The following year, Quinet helped decorate the liner “France”.
In 1968, he was commissioned to decorate the Plaza-Athénée hotel in Paris.
Between 1970 and 1978, Quinet decorated several private residences, mostly in Paris, where he favored Japanese-style furniture in lacquer, bronze or steel.

After renovating the interior of the Caravelle, he designed the interiors of the Corail train and the first TGV high-speed train.
Jacques Quinet was named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 1985, Officier des Arts et des Lettres in 1988, and awarded the Légion d’Honneur in 1990.

In collaboration with architect Louis Aublet, he designed the Potasses d’Alsace head office in Paris and, with architect Novarina, the new theater in Evian, the polychromy of apartment buildings in Pont Audemer and the Ecole d’Illeville. With Novarina again, he worked on the interior decoration of the church in Alby sous Chéran and, in collaboration with Bazaine, Ubac and Chagall, on that of the church in Villeparisis.

In addition to his work as an interior architect and decorator, in which the problems of color and its functional role play a major role, Jacques Quinet has organized the furnishings of numerous private homes in France, America and Iran, and is particularly interested in furniture.

He loves fine cabinetmaking and strives to give his furniture a harmony of rhythm and volume, and even ornamental refinements in sculpted or chased bronze, in the classical tradition.

Two of these pieces, a silver cabinet entirely sheathed in chamois and a chest of drawers, both in sycamore, were acquired by the Mobilier National. Although he had for a time studied furniture models for mass production, Jacques Quinet’s tastes drew him to luxury furniture. While he loved light, delicate, silky woods, he was also keen to use Cuban mahogany, and to achieve precious material effects with plain lacquer coatings and soft, deep colors. Jacques Quinet was called upon to collaborate with architects who were designing homes according to the aesthetics and habits specific to new lifestyles. While remaining faithful to the constructive principles he considered essential and whose sources of inspiration he had no intention of denying, he submitted to the influence of this architectural order, at once functional, uncluttered and singularly demanding in its logical and emotional relationships with the furniture.

This has led him to design his furniture ensembles with greater rigor and more freedom, while reserving for the beauty of the material or technical refinements a decorative character that ornament can no longer assume.

Sources: Mobilier et Décoration N°1 February 1955