One of Dover Books’ speciality publishing areas is the facsimile reproduction of some of the great furniture catalogues issued by the masters; Chippendale’s The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director, Hepplewhite’s The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide and Georgian Furniture Designs: Universal System of Household Furniture 1762 by William Ince and John Mayhew. Here, to use the Dover parlance, is an “unabridged republication” of the Majorelle Frères et Cie furnishings catalogue, Meubles D’Art, published around 1910 in Nancy. The only alterations are a translation of the contents page and the omission of the item numbers from the plate pages.
Majorelle Frères, a leading manufacturer of Art Nouveau-styled furniture, produced beautiful machine-made pieces in the company’s workshops in Nancy.
Louis Majorelle was one of the finest Art Nouveau furniture designers of the time; he and Emil Gallé founded the Ecole de Nancy in 1901, “to revive the artistic expressions that have died out and become forgotten trades... and to encourage their revival everywhere. In Nancy, where there was a strong tradition in luxury crafts and the Rococo style, Majorelle soon transformed Rococo into Art Nouveau. This catalogue has 200 illustrations of Art Nouveau-styled bowls, hanging lamps, wrought-iron railings, including the fabulous stairway in Galeries Lafayette in Paris and, of course, the furniture which made the Majorelle name; the tables, desks, cabinets, sofas and fireplace mantelpieces. Good source reference for decorators, dealers and collectors of Art Nouveau.
Genius copied to perfection
Masterpieces of Art Nouveau Furniture: The Majorelle Catalogue c.1910, edited by Flora Klickmann, published by Dover Books, New York, and distributed in the UK by David & Charles Ltd. ISBN 0486421139. £16.95sb
