Gouffe Deco Cerused Oak Cabinet France, 1940s, Mid-Century

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Gouffe Deco Cerused Oak Cabinet France, 1940s, Mid-Century

About the Item

This is a very unusual piece that was part of a seven-piece bedroom set. It is in very good original condition. It is labeled Gouffe on the back. Has original key. It is believed to have been designed by Royere while he worked for Gouffe. Royere later used this square pattern to create other cabinets. This is an early example. More information or photos available upon request. Price is for this item only. In 1931, aged 29, Jean Royère (1902-1981) resigned from a comfortable position in the import-export trade in order to set up business as an interior designer. He learnt his new trade in the cabinetmaking workshops of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine in Paris. In 1934, he signed the new layout of the Brasserie Carlton on the Champs Elysées and found immediate success. This was the beginning of an international career that was to last until the early 1970s. A key figure of the Avant-garde in the 1950s, Royère tackled all kinds of decoration work and opened branches in the Near East and Latin America. Among his patrons were King Farouk, King Hussein of Jordan, and the Shah of Iran, who were captivated by his freedom of creation and his elegance and entrusted him with the layout of their palaces. Royère pioneered an original style combining bright colors, organic forms and precious materials within a wide range of imaginative accomplishments. In 1980, he left France for the United States, where he lived until his death. Jean Royere (July 3, 1902-14 May 1981) was from a privileged social class and lived a pleasant childhood in the French capital. He started to worked at Le Havre in the import and export business from its 24 to its 29 years. This profession guarantee him a good lifestyle. However, this young man left this comfortable career and choose a more risky path: the designer career, field in which he was a passionate and talented artist. He started as an employee in a furniture factory boulevard Diderot, located in the Faubourg Saint Antoine, epicenter of Parisian furniture makers. In 1933, he received a prestigious order from the Carlton on the Champs Elysees. His career took off and a year later, he was in charge of the contemporary furniture section at Pierre Gouffé gallery in the Faubourg Saint Antoine. During the War he participated in the Resistance. He ended his collaboration with Pierre Gouffé and opened his own gallery in 1942 in Argenson street. Its production was both modern and in touch with the rustic style, fashionable at that moment, then turned definitively towards modern creation. The end of World War strengthen the success of Jean Royere. In 1946, he opened a second gallery in Cairo under the name "Jean Royere and Aladin". It will open later galleries in Beirut, Le Touquet, São Paulo, and in Tehran. In Paris he left the rue d'Argenson, for 182 of the prestigious Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. It created interior decorations for luxurious locations and resorts (such has: Thonon-les-Bains, Le Fouquet's, the ocean liner France,) as well as in places of political power (such as: France legation in Helsinki , the Kuwaiti Embassy in Washington, the new Senate in Tehran). It puts an end to his career in 1972 and moved permanently to the United States in 1980. His collection was auctioned at Drouot on June 19, 1980. He bequeathed all its designs and many of his major works of art to the Arts Décoratifs museum, such as the sofa "Banana". He died shortly after that, the 14th of May 1981, in Pennsylvania. His work is characterized by a colorful, light and humorous production, enhanced by his choice of materials such as painted metal, wood, wool, straw, herbarium flowers, and even sponged tissu. He dedicated himself especially in the creation of fireplaces, he even wrote a book "Fireplaces and firesides" (Ed. Art by Charles Moreau) in 1950. It is a warm space which inspired him sleek design, often made with bricks.

Creator:
Jean Royère (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 62 in (157.48 cm)Width: 63 in (160.02 cm)Depth: 19.75 in (50.17 cm)
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Oak,Cerused
Place of Origin:
France
Period:
1930-1939
Date of Manufacture:
1930s
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. This item is in good original condition.
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU189337297253

Shop All Jean Royère

Jean Royère

World traveler, polyglot and avant-garde visionary Jean Royère (1902–81) is one of the biggest names in French mid-century design. He was fascinated by different materials, such as raffia and zebrawood, and aesthetics from around the world, from Scandinavian modernism to the traditions of the Middle East. Owing to this venturesome spirit, Royère produced an eclectic body of work that truly doesn’t fit a singular style. One light fixture might have organic shapes reminiscent of Art Nouveau, while a table would be crafted with minimalist straw marquetry.

Born in Paris, Royère studied classics at Cambridge University and then worked for an import-export company. In 1931, he switched gears to design, studying cabinetmaking in the workshops of Faubourg Saint-Antoine and furniture making under the tutelage of Pierre Gouffé. He made his debut in interior design in 1934 when he won a design contest for the brasserie in the Hotel Carlton on the Champs-Élysées.

Royère’s most famous piece of furniture was his biomorphic Boule sofa, sometimes playfully called the Ours Polaire, or Polar Bear. Designed for his mother in 1947, the curved sofa with its fuzzy white velvet shocked the French interior design world when it was displayed at the Art et Industrie exhibition, but it proved enduringly popular with customers, such as the Shah of Iran, who purchased several for his daughter. Royère would continue to design furniture and interiors for an elite clientele, including the kings of Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Royère retired in 1972, then moved to the United States in 1980. After he died a year later, his archives were given to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. His works continue to be highly coveted — Kanye West, for instance, once tweeted that the Polar Bear sofa is his favorite piece of furniture. In 2016, Galerie Patrick Seguin in Paris opened a retrospective of his distinctive designs, from the plush 1943 Eléphanteau chair to the 1963 Tour Eiffel table with its elegant metal supports.

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