BY LOUIS MAJORELLE, CIRCA 1905

Louis-Jean-Sylvestre Majorelle (Toulouse 1859-1926 Nancy) is regarded as one of the most important ébénistes of the Art Nouveau movement. Brought up in a design-filled environment, his father, Auguste, was a furniture designer and manufacturer. Leaving his family behind, Louis journeyed to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1877. His studies however were cut short when he was forced to return and oversee the family business, by that time in Nancy, upon the death of his father in 1879. Nancy, was a city noted for the rococo elegance of its fine central square, La Place Stanislas, and for a tradition of luxury crafts. When he first took over the family business in 1879, Majorelle designed furniture that was close to his eighteenth-century models. But he began aound the mid-1890s, partly under the influence of Gallé, to create a complete new collection models using inlays inspired by naturalism and symbolism, abstract and exaggerate forms, creating furniture in a fully art nouveau style. In 1901 he was appointed vice-president of the famous School of Nancy. An important bedroom suite by Louis Majorelle, amongst other fine examples of his work sold Les Collections du Chateau de Gourdon, Christie's Paris, 29-31 March 2011, lot 78.