Jacques Le Chevallier and René Kœchlin - Important Design London Wednesday, March 20, 2019 | Phillips

Important Design

London Auction 21 March 2019

  • Provenance

    Private collection, Paris
    Galerie Doria, Paris
    Laurent Negro, Château de Gourdon, France
    Christie's, Paris, 'Les Collections du Château de Gourdon', 29-31 March 2011, lot 857
    Acquired from the above by the present owner

  • Literature

    Chronique de l’art décoratif, L’Art Vivant, no. 124, February 1930, p. 178
    Art et Décoration: Revue Mensuelle d'Art Moderne, vol. LVIII, July-December 1930, Paris, n.p.
    Jean-François Archieri, et. al., Jacques Le Chevallier 1896-1987: La Lumière Moderne, exh. cat., La Piscine-Musée d’art et d’industrie André Diligent, Roubaix, 2007, pp. 96-99

  • Catalogue Essay

    The present model was exhibited at the Salon d'Automne, Paris, 1929 and the Première Exposition de l’Union des Artistes Modernes, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Pavillon de Marsan, Paris, 1930.


    In 1929 the Union des Artistes Modernes (UAM) had their first exhibition at the Salon d’Automne, Paris, where the present model piano lamp was exhibited. The UAM was formed in 1929 and disbanded in 1958. Alongside Jacques Le Chevallier, the members of this conscientious and innovative collective of architects, decorators and craftsmen, included Pierre Chareau, Jean Prouvé, Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand and Robert Mallet-Stevens, who came together through a shared belief in a synthesis of art, technology and materials.

    Having studied at the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs, in Paris, Le Chevallier was a maître verrier (master glassmaker) who worked for Louis Barillet’s eponymous architectural glass company, which famously created the glass roof of the Villa Noailles in Hyères designed by Robert Mallet-Stevens. Both were founding members of the UAM and contributed works to their early exhibitions.

    Between 1927-1932 Le Chevallier collaborated with René Koechlin on experimental lighting designs. The lamps present as cubist sculptures or architectural models, and often employed impressive technical innovations. Ingeniously constructed for maximum range and stability, the present model is recorded as having been selected for production by Décoration Intérieure Moderne (DIM), a French furnishings firm founded in 1919 by René Joubert and Georges Mouveau. The present model and others were intended for mass production, though ultimately they were produced in only small number.

    An example of the present model is in the permanent collection of the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.

100

Jacques Le Chevallier and René Kœchlin

Piano lamp, model no. 58

circa 1929
Aluminium, Ebonite, rubber.
26 x 34.2 x 26.6 cm (10 1/4 x 13 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.)
Reverse impressed DÉPOSÉ, Type58/JLC/Nº 32, R, K and MADE IN/FRANCE.

Estimate
£25,000 - 35,000 Ω

Contact Specialist
Madalena Horta E Costa
Head of Sale
+44 20 7318 4019
mhortaecosta@phillips.com

Important Design

London Auction 21 March 2019