





Jean-Michel Frank French, 1895-1941
Depth: 25.1 in.
Height: 29.5 in.
Further images
Marcelle Chaumont entered Madeleine Vionnet’s newly established fashion house in 1912 and quickly
became one of her closest collaborators. By 1922, Maison Vionnet moved to a vast townhouse belonging to Counts Lariboisiere on 50 Avenue Montaigne, becoming one of the most prestigious haute couture houses of the interwar period. It closed its doors in 1940 and Marcelle Chaumont opened her own establishment on 19 Avenue Georges V, where she hired young Pierre Cardin as a seamster. Following in the footsteps of Madeleine Vionnet, when it came to interior design of her new showroom and private residence on Petrarque Square, Marcelle Chaumont called upon some of the greatest designers of the Art Deco period: Jean-Michel Frank, Rhulmann, Dunand and Lalique, amongst others.
Her luxurious townhouse was entirely decorated by Jean-Michel Frank where he thoughtfully placed his parchment pieces alongside Giacometti lighting. The crowning glory of this residence was the grand salon decorated with exceptional straw marquetry wood panels framing a sumptuous leather sofa and a pair of armchairs. Completing the salon was a cozy corner with a small shagreen mosaic table and our pair of armchairs are called “Cole Porter” chairs in honor of the American jazz musician.
Provenance
Madeleine Chapsal
Literature
Galerie Lefebvre Archives.
Our pair mentioned in the Chapsal succession inventory of 1953.
Jean-Michel Frank Un décorateur dans le Paris des années 30, Emmanuel Martin-Vivier, Ed. Norma 2009, p.15. Jean-Michel Frank, l’étrange luxe du rien, Emmanuel Martin-Vivier, Ed. Norma 2006, p. 39, 201, 289. Jean-Michel Frank/Adolphe Chanaux, Léopold Diego Sanchez, Paris, 1997, p.127.
- Image of the Petrarque square residence: p.72.