Important French Early Modern Prototype Desk & Chair by Robert Mallet-Stevens

Rare handmade French early Mid-Century Modern desk and chair in hand-formed and hand-hammered (non-commercially produced) tubular steel by the visionary French modernist, Robert Mallet-Stevens (1886 - 1945). The chair and desk are elegant architectural statements in their pure form and lines and are among the earliest French modernist works while continuing the tradition of French unique hand work and individual craftsmanship. This was extremely rare in modernism which favored mass production. Robert Mallet-Stevens strongly influenced the modernist works of the French champions of Modernism: Le Corbusier (Charles Edouard Jeanneret), Pierre Jeanneret, Charlotte Perriand and Jean Prouve. In addition, he was a leading member of the U.A.M., Union Des Artistes Modernes, a break-away society from the Traditional French Decorators formed in the late 1920s.

Provenance: A similar model Mallet-Stevens chair is exhibited at the Villa Noailles in Hyeres, Var Region, France. See last photo enclosed. He had designed the Villa Noailles in 1923, one of the earliest modern homes built anywhere. Viollet le Duc commented: "In this architecture, we celebrate a new art of living where the body and nature are privileged. It meets a simple objective: to let light in and make it the central element of the building".

Additional References: LECLERE, Design, Marseille, 14 February 2017, pps. 9-13 for two similar models by Charlotte Perriand, Charles Edouard Jeanneret (Le Corbusier) and Pierre Jeanneret that were influenced by this design presented here.