Table
Design Date c. 1900
Designer Louis Majorelle (1859-1926, French)
Manufacturer Atelier Majorelle, Nancy, France
Media mahogany and fruitwood
Dimensions 31 x 23 x 23 inches
This table features pierced ornamentation and curving lines in mahogany and fruitwood. The intricacy alludes to the sumptuous furniture of the 1700s that Louis Majorelle’s work occasionally evoked and was unique to the Art Nouveau style of members of the École de Nancy who drew historical inspiration from the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1901 Majorelle was a founder, along with fellow designer Émile Gallé, of the École de Nancy (Nancy is a small town 200 miles southeast of Paris). The Art Nouveau designers of the École de Nancy were inspired by Japonisme (a French take on the Japanese aesthetic) and nature—like all Art Nouveau designers—but were also influenced by Baroque and Rococo styles. Louis Majorelle, after his father’s death in the late 1870s, inherited his father’s furniture business in Nancy.
ON VIEW in Art Nouveau Gallery 4
Markings unmarked
Credit Line Collection Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art
Accession Number 2014.0112
