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Fromental x Rinck: a capsule collection

“It’s all a question of true relationships and honesty, not of vain competition, but of mutual respect for the greatest benefit of a common work” Jean Lurçat

Rinck and Fromental continue their creative partnership, launching “Ornements,” a capsule collection of extraordinary furniture with needlepoint upholstery. Highly collectible, the pieces in the Ornements range will become the centrepiece of any room. Decorative and precise, they command attention, as would a piece of fine art. They can be offset in a gallery space or layered into a decorated interior and hold their own.
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Valentin Goux, Rinck's President, reinterpreted pieces from his archives including an Art Deco sabre-legged chair with Empire lines.

From that inspiration, Lizzie Deshayes, our Design Director, mined Le Mobilier National, the French government’s archive of furniture and textiles. She discovered a trove of furniture upholstered with tapestry from 1908 to 1958, created by the greatest French designers of the twentieth century.

It became the starting point for needlepoint designs that blend references to the Empire period and varied impressions of Art Deco.

The collection pays homage to Jean Lurçat, the artist who reinvented tapestry in the early twentieth century and elevated it to international acclaim, and the continued rise of French tapestry in the 1940s-50s.

Lurçat’s needlepoint work was often executed by his wife and daughter, both fine artisans; his tapestries were woven at Aubusson and Gobelins. While both Fromental and Rinck have long admired this work, the recent spotlight on Lurçat’s designs have once again highlighted his brilliance. In Christie’s recent sale of furniture from Pierre Chareau’s Glass House, furniture upholstered with Lurçat tapestries garnered much attention and far surpassed estimates.

“I’ve always viewed the language of ornament as the lingua franca of the decoration trades. Today, through this capsule collection, we celebrate our shared language.” Valentin Goux

Josephine Pouf

Elevated through decoration, this piece balances heraldic tradition, classical motifs and a certain whimsy. It's named after for Josephine Bonaparte, Napoleon’s controversial beloved. Born in Martinique, as Empress of the French and chatelaine of Malmaison, she became a patron of the arts, influencing interiors, garden design and the course of history.

The trompe l’oeil drape offers a linen fold effect, echoing the most popular panelling motif in traditional oak panelled rooms. This is a nod to Rinck’s heritage of carved boiseries, balanced with the odd humor of surrealism. On the platform is a crown of wheat sheaves. Revered as a gift of the gods to mortals, wheat symbolized life, prosperity and fertility, and became one of Napoléon’s dearest motifs.

As a delightful surprise, a tiger pattern drawn from an Art Deco carpet winks out from underneath the trompe l’oeil drapery. A handsome finish: the blue lacquered plinth and brass nailheads.

Elysée Chair

For those who are obsessed with chairs—and who among us isn’t? Rendered in fine petit point needlework, the formal sunburst design has a ceremonial feel that fortifies the piece’s Empire style. The Beauvais red colour was a favourite of the Gobelins weavers throughout history. Just off blood red, it offers warmth and strength, projecting power.

Furstenberg Bench

Decidedly feminine. Resolutely modern. A romantic tumble of flowers softens the central motif, a sunburst explosion based on an example from the Art Deco designers Süe et Mar that captured Deshayes eye at the Mobilier National. Deshayes looked to floral textiles from the 1920s and 1930s to find a language that would echo the voluptuous delicacy of Redouté roses and read harmoniously within the Süe et Mare era. The Parma Violet hue of the ground is a tempered version of couturier Jeanne Lanvin’s favourite colour. A handsome copper stretcher and lacquered base underpin the decorative flourishes.

“Looking back at the twentieth century, all the big names in furniture and textile arts worked together. We wanted to recapture that true energy of cooperation where each artist brings his or her own vision, combining them into a harmonious collaborative work.” Lizzie Deshayes

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