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PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF NELSON A. ROCKEFELLER
JEAN-MICHEL FRANK (1895-1941)
A SHAGREEN LOW TABLE, 1938/39
Details
JEAN-MICHEL FRANK (1895-1941)
A Shagreen Low Table, 1938/39
13 5/8 in. (34.5 cm.) high, 12 3/8 in. (62 cm.) wide, 13 7/8 in. (35 cm.) deep
stamped J.M.Frank Chanaux & Co. 20355 and Made in France
A Shagreen Low Table, 1938/39
13 5/8 in. (34.5 cm.) high, 12 3/8 in. (62 cm.) wide, 13 7/8 in. (35 cm.) deep
stamped J.M.Frank Chanaux & Co. 20355 and Made in France
Literature
L. D. Sanchez, Jean-Michel Frank, Paris, 1980, p. 45 for an illustration of this table in Nelson A. Rockefeller's New York apartment.
Further details
In 1938 Nelson A. Rockefeller commissioned Jean-Michel Frank to decorate his 812 Fifth Avenue apartment. This commission, along with the hall and salon he designed for Templeton Crocker's apartment in San Francisco, were certainly Frank's most important projects in the United States, and can be counted among his most prestigious projects overall.
The low sharkskin table offered here was created by Frank for Rockefeller's living room. Wallace K. Harrison, Rockefeller's friend as well as the family architect, designed a large living room with wood paneling and two chimneys. Above one fireplace was a mural by Matisse and above the second, a fresco by Leger. It was in front of this second fireplace that Frank had initially intended this low table to be placed.
Frank's furniture for the living room varied. As he explained, he created an ensemble using "modern and ancient" styles and mixed antiques from Louis XIV to Directoire with his own designs. The modern pieces which Frank did not design himself, he purchased or commissioned. For example, Diego Giacometti created lamps and andirons and Christian Bérard the large carpet woven at Aubusson.
The present table, its spare form and bold lines paired with the exquisite and tactile material sharkskin, is an excellent example of Frank's work for a highly important commission.
The low sharkskin table offered here was created by Frank for Rockefeller's living room. Wallace K. Harrison, Rockefeller's friend as well as the family architect, designed a large living room with wood paneling and two chimneys. Above one fireplace was a mural by Matisse and above the second, a fresco by Leger. It was in front of this second fireplace that Frank had initially intended this low table to be placed.
Frank's furniture for the living room varied. As he explained, he created an ensemble using "modern and ancient" styles and mixed antiques from Louis XIV to Directoire with his own designs. The modern pieces which Frank did not design himself, he purchased or commissioned. For example, Diego Giacometti created lamps and andirons and Christian Bérard the large carpet woven at Aubusson.
The present table, its spare form and bold lines paired with the exquisite and tactile material sharkskin, is an excellent example of Frank's work for a highly important commission.