The present console in the original home it was acquired for, Beirut. Photo: Private family archive. Artwork: © 2024 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. In the late 1940s, Jean Royère opened an office with the Lebanese architect Nadim Majdalani on avenue des Français in Beirut after the two had met in Paris. Their collaboration, which continued through the 1960s, comprised many residential and commercial projects throughout Lebanon, which at that time was experiencing a great deal of growth. Royère established a thriving international practice in Lebanon and his commissions were featured in French publications during the period. The present Jean Royère console was acquired at the Galerie L'Atelier which opened in 1955 by Majdalani to permanently showcase Royère's works. Mr. Ali Bazzi, a former Lebanese diplomat whose illustrious career includes posts as the Lebanese ambassador to Kuwait and Jordan, moved into a new house shortly after his wedding between 1954 and 1956, for which he acquired this striking piece.
Provenance
Galerie L'Atelier, Beirut
Ali Bazzi, Beirut, acquired from the above, circa 1955
Thence by descent to the present ownerLiterature
Galerie Jacques Lacoste and Galerie Patrick Seguin, Jean Royère, Volume 1, Paris, 2012, pp. 44, 143, 144 for a smaller version of the model
Galerie Jacques Lacoste and Galerie Patrick Seguin, Jean Royère, Volume 2, Paris, 2012, pp. 64, 206-209 for a smaller version of the modelArtist Biography
Jean Royère
French • 1902 - 1981
Jean Royère took on the mantle of the great artistes décorateurs of 1940s France and ran with it into the second half of the twentieth century. Often perceived as outside of the modernist trajectory ascribed to twentieth-century design, Royère was nonetheless informed by and enormously influential to his peers. Having opened a store in Paris in 1943 before the war had ended, he was one of the first to promote a new way of life through interior decoration, and his lively approach found an international audience early on in his career.
In addition to commissions in Europe and South America, Royère had a strong business in the Middle East where he famously designed homes for the Shah of Iran, King Farouk of Egypt and King Hussein of Jordan. The surrealist humor and artist's thoughtful restraint that he brought to his furniture designs continue to draw admiration to this day.
Property from the Bazzi Family Collection
135
Large "Tour Eiffel" console
designed circa 1947, produced circa 1955
Marble, painted iron, brass.
36 1/4 x 51 1/8 x 16 3/4 in. (92.1 x 129.9 x 42.6 cm)
Estimate
$50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $228,600
Benjamin Green
Associate Specialist, Head of Sale, New York
bgreen@phillips.com
+1 212 940 1267
Design
New York Auction 11 December 2024
126
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203
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