Property from an Important New York Collection
Charlotte Perriand and Jean Prouvé
"Placard Brazza" Prototype, Created for Charlotte Perriand's Apartment
Auction Closed
December 10, 08:02 PM GMT
Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Property from an Important New York Collection
Charlotte Perriand and Jean Prouvé
"Placard Brazza" Prototype, Created for Charlotte Perriand's Apartment
circa 1950-1951
produced by Les Ateliers Jean Prouvé, Nancy, France
oak, partially painted fir, aluminium sheet, 'pointe diamant' embossed aluminium sheet, folded painted steel sheet, chrome plated steel, thermoformed plastic, painted chipboard
99 ¼ x 61 ¾ x 23 ⅝ in. (252.1 x 156.8 x 60 cm)
Charlotte Perriand, 18 rue Las Cases, Paris, 1950-1951
Thence by descent
Christie's Paris, May 25, 2022, lot 3
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Formes utiles-objets de notre temps, Salon des Arts Ménagers, Paris, February-March 1952
Jacques Barsac, Charlotte Perriand, Un art d'habiter, Paris, 2005, pp. 331, 343
Jacques Barsac, Charlotte Perriand, L'oeuvre complète, volume 2, 1940-1955, Paris, 2015, pp. 353, 355, 363
Jacques Barsac, Charlotte Perriand et le Japon, Paris, 2018, p. 198
With its checkerboard layout and crisp geometric accents, the Placard Brazza carries a distinctly Mondrianesque character: the fine yet durable metal fittings recede, allowing bold blocks of color to clearly articulate each compartment. Designed in 1951 for the Air France apartments in Brazzaville and produced in collaboration with Jean Prouvé and the Ateliers Jean Prouvé, this example is the only fully realised prototype known. Shown at the Formes Utiles exhibition in 1952, it was later installed in Charlotte Perriand’s apartment on Rue Las Cases, where it was tested alongside an experimental bath–shower–storage unit.
