#620
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 Six chairs were originally made for Charles and Florence Blumenthal’s New York City residence.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 (91.4 cm)
Width: 24 in (61 cm)
Depth: 20 ½ in (52.1 cm)
Exhibition
L’Art de A.A. Rateau, Headley-Whitney Museum, Lexington, Kentucky, April 14-July 7, 1996
Documentation
Franck Olivier-Vial and François Rateau, Armand Albert Rateau, Paris: Les Editions de l’Amateur, 1992, pp. 6, 55 (illustration of the Blumenthal swimming pool showing three of the chairs), 56-57, 62, 69, and 154 (similar model illustrated).
DeLorenzo Gallery, AA Rateau exhibition catalogue, 1990, pp. 43, 54-58, and 61 (similar model illustrated).
Alastair Duncan, Art Deco Furniture, London: Thames and Hudson, 1984, p. 157, plate no. 198 (similar model illustrated).
Paul Maenz, Art Deco: 1920-1940, Koln: DuMont, 1974, plate no. 130 (similar model illustrated).
Minneapolis Institute of Art, The World of Art Deco exhibition catalogue, text by Bevis Hillier, Minneapolis, 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, 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, p. 12 (similar model illustrated).
Provenance
George and Florence Blumenthal, New York
Unknown descent, Palm Beach, Florida
Smith-Knudson, Inc., Interior Designs & Antiques, Palm Beach, Florida
George W. Headley III
The Headley-Whitney Museum, Kentucky
