Tea Table, from the Dining Room of the Hôtel Guimard, Paris, France

Designer: Hector Guimard, French, 1867–1942
Maker: Ateliers d'Art et de Fabrication, Paris, France, active c.1897–1914
Date: 1907
Material: Pearwood, gilded bronze, and glass
made in: Paris, Île-de-France region, France, Europe
Classification: Furniture
Collection: Decorative Arts and Design
Current Location: On View, Gallery 135
Dimensions: 33 x 35 x 26 1/4 in. (83.8 x 88.9 x 66.7 cm)
Credit Line: Director's Discretionary Fund, Museum Purchase, by exchange; and funds given by Susan and David Mesker and Zoe and Max Lippman
Rights: Public Domain
Object Number: 173:2003a,b

NOTES

Hector Guimard animated his designs with abstract clusters of buds, unfurling plant forms, and writhing tendrils as seen on the legs of this tea table. Nature was the primary source of inspiration for Guimard, a French architect and designer, who embraced a new mode of expression that broke from historical styles. Rather than applying ornament as separate decorative elements, he worked like a sculptor, fusing structure and ornament, often creating bold, curving lines that convey movement and energy. In the early 20th century, architects such as Guimard worked in a variety of materials, designing not only entire buildings and architectural ornaments but their interiors and furnishings as well.

Provenance

1907 - c.1948
Hector Guimard (1867–1942) and Adeline Oppenheim Guimard (b. 1872), Paris, France; New York, NY, USA [1]

c.1948 - 2003
Private Collection, France, acquired from Adeline Oppenheim Guimard [2]

2003
Barry Friedman, Ltd., New York, NY, USA, purchased from private collection

2003 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Barry Friedman, Ltd. [3]

Notes:
[1] The table is shown in an undated photograph of the dining room of Hôtel Guimard, 122 Avenue Mozart, Paris, the residence designed and furnished by Guimard for himself and his wife in 1909/10-1912 [Thiébaut, Philippe. "Guimard." Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1992, p. 401, fig. 9; and Graham, F. Lanier. "Hector Guimard." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1970. p. 23].

[2] Adeline Oppenheim Guimard, by then widowed, return to Paris from New York in 1948 and dispersed the contents of the Hôtel Guimard, making donations to three museums and giving other pieces, including this table, to friends of the family [letter from Alain Blondel, Guimard scholar, to Barry Friedman, Barry Friedman Ltd., September 9, 2003; Barry Friedman Ltd invoice].

[3] Invoice dated October 23, 2003 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, December 2, 2003.

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