#620
ARMAND-ALBERT RATEAU (1882-1938), Circa 1919
Bronze armchair, “model no. 1793”, the frame cast with details of scales and shells, the back and seat formed by linked medallions cast as fish and the arms formed of linked “shells”.
Rear leg stamped: 1793 PARIS A.A. RATEAU INV 86.
This chair is one of seven known examples of the model. Six chairs were originally made for Charles and Florence Blumenthal’s New York City residence. The seventh chair, once in the possession of Madame Rateau, is now in the collection of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris.
Measurements
- Height: 36 in. (91.5 cm)
- Width: 24 in. (61 cm.)
- Depth: 20 ½ in. (52 cm.)
Exhibition
Lexington, Kentucky, Headley-Whitney Museum, “L’Art de A.A. Rateau” April 14-July 7, 1996.
Literature
Franck Olivier-Vial and Francois Rateau, Armand Albert Rateau, Paris: 1992, Les Editions de l’Amateur, p. 6, 55, an illustration of the Blumenthal swimming pool showing three of the chairs, p. 56-57, 62, 69, 154 (similar model illustrated).
AA Rateau, catalogue for the exhibition at Delorenzo Gallery, 1990, p. 43, 54-58, 61 (similar model illustrated).
Alastair Duncan, Art Deco Furniture, London, Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 1984, p. 157, plate #198 (similar model illustrated).
Paul Maenz, Art Deco, 1920 – 1940, Koln: Verlag M. DuMont, 1974, plate # 130 (similar model illustrated).
Bevis Hillier, The World of Art Deco, New York: E.P. Dutton, 1971, catalogue for the exhibition held at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, July-September 1971, cat. no. 78, p. 61 (similar model illustrated).
Yvonne Brunhammer, 1925, Paris: Les Presses de la Connaissance, 1976. p. 88 (similar model illustrated).
Pierre Kjellberg, Le Mobilier du XXe Siècle, Dictionnaire des Créateurs, Paris: les Editions de l’Amateur, 1994, p. 540 (similar model illustrated).
Derek Ostgergard, Art Deco Masterpieces, New York: Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc., 1991, p. 71 (similar model illustrated).
Ralph Strohle, Faszination Art Deco, Munich: Klinkhardt und Biermann, 1993, p. 195 (similar model illustrated).
Elle Décoration—Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Une Renaissance, Special Supplement, Paris: 2006, cover and page 12 (similar model illustrated).
Provenance
George and Florence Blumenthal, New York
Unknown descent, Palm Beach
Smith-Knudson, Inc. Interior Designs & Antiques, Palm Beach, Florida
George W. Headley III
The Headley-Whitney Museum, Kentucky
#671
ARMAND-ALBERT RATEAU (1882-1938), Circa 1922
Pair of torchères, each with an alabaster shade supported by six geese; column cast with leaves and seed pods at the top and florets and fruit at the bottom; the base comprised of four pheasants, each balancing on a small sphere; with an ivory light switch carved as a butterfly.
Impressed: “A.A. Rateau. Inv. R Paris” and “1318” on standard and base
From 1905 until 1919, Rateau worked in South America. These lamps were commissioned by the Guinle family for a bathroom in their Praia de Botafogo residence in Rio de Janeiro. The building later housed the Argentinian Embassy before being demolished in 1979.
Measurements
- Height: 67 ½ in (170.5 cm)
Documentation
Milton Abirached Filho, “Na Crise, ASaida e a Reforma”, Domingo, February, 1985, p. 27, an illustration of the lamps. Carol Vogel, “Object Lessons”, New York Times Magazine, March 2, 1986, p. 76, an illustration of a similar pair made for Jeanne Lanvin, now in the collection of the Museum of Decorative Arts, Paris. Frank Olivier-Vial and Francois Rateau, Armand-Albert Rateau, Paris: Les Editions de L’Amateur, 1992, pp. 35-37 and pp. 200-201, photographs of similar lamps used in the apartment of Jeanne Lanvin and in Rateau’s apartment at 17 Quai de Conti. See also pp. 157 and 237, illustrations of an original design for another floor lamp with similar motifs. Alastair Duncan, AA Rateau, New York: The Delorenzo Gallery, 1990, pp. 22 and 61, photographs of the model exhibited in 1926 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Yvonne Brunhammer, Le Style 1925, Paris: Baschet et Cie, n.d., p. 40, a similar lamp made for Jeanne Lanvin, now in the collection of the Museum of Decorative Arts, Paris. Alain Lesieutre, The Spirit and Splendour of Art Deco, Secaucus: Castle Books, 1978, fig. 271, similar model illustrated. Yvonne Brunhammer, 1925, Paris: Les Presses de la Connaissance, 1976. p.204, similar model illustrated. Jean-Paul Bouillon, Art Deco 1903-1940, New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1989, p. 123, similar model illustrated.