aison Jansen was conceived in Paris in 1880 by Jean-Henri Jansen, a Dutch business man with exceptional taste and a penchant for knowing people in high places. He was successful from the word "Go!" Some of his illustrious clients included members of the Belgium Royal family, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the Shah and Empress of Iran, Elsie de Wolfe and Jackie Kennedy.

The recent book "Jansen" by James Abbott (Acanthus Press 2006) chronicles the rise and demise of the illustrious and powerful decorating firm of "Maison Jansen" and has brought about a renewed interest in the history of the firm and its talented designers. The book gives us an in depth look at the triumphs and accomplishments of what was arguably the top decorating firm in the world throughout the Twentieth Century.

Once Jansen finalized the purchase of a building in 1855, at the prestigious address of 9 Rue Royale, he concentrated on acquiring the premises next door and established an antiques gallery selling masterpieces of French eighteenth century furniture. It was to become the favorite destination for high society and those in the arts, a place where people met to socialize and view the collections.

Jansen complemented these buildings with a large new atelier where all the restoration, cabinetwork and specially commissioned projects were produced in a large space close to the famous Bastille. It was here that the best artisans of the day were employed; at one point close to 700 people worked in various branches of the arts, gilding, cabinet work, glass and mirror work, paneling, metal work, faux finishing and much more.

Long hours of discussion and preparation took place at the ateliers, not only by the craftsmen, but also by the designers that were later to be associated and interwoven with the name Jansen.

Workers were schooled in all the historic styles in the decorative arts, as well as in architectural elements. The work produced by the atelier ranged from duplicating period paneling to veneering tables in mirror. Items were also purchased from individual contractors and designers such as Linke, Jean Michael Frank and T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings who were just a few of the marquee names that provided furniture for Jansen.

Jansen soon opened workshops and satellite offices in Buenos Aires, London, Rome, Milan, Cairo, Prague, Geneva, Havana and New York. With this global reach, Jansen imported rare woods from Argentina and Cuba, which were shipped back to Paris and then transformed into beautiful furniture and paneling, and then ultimately shipped back to their places of origin. One such residence where the mahogany made this tedious round trip was for the powerful and wealthy sugar-refining family, the Count and Countess de Reville de Camargo. This beautiful mansion with priceless works of art is now The National Museum of Decorative Arts in Cuba. The firm was noted for its aristocratic French taste associated with the Ancien-Regime, with its expression in the Rococo and Neo-Classical styles which became the hallmark of the firm's work.

In 1915 Jean-Henri Jansen then in his sixties and like many monied Europeans at that time, was going through the physical and financial difficulties associated with the first world war and decided to reorganize the firm by inviting new talent to invest in the company. It was also at this time that he opened a branch in New York City Jansen Inc. at 25 West 54th Street. The company earned a great reputation by participating in major fairs and exhibitions including The Grand Exposition in St Petersburg in 1889, the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, and the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes. The fairs gave the firm the exposure it needed to a wealthy clientele which gathered for grand shopping sprees. By the beginning of the new century, Jansen became the top design firm and had secured commissions in all the royal houses in Europe. In the early 1920's Jansen invited Stephane Boudin, a young man in his thirties and the son of a trimming and passementerie manufacturer, to join the firm. Additionally, he took on two other investors, Monsieur Gaston Schwartz and Monsieur Vandries, who were to help with the production in the ateliers. In 1925 Monsieur Henri Samuel was hired as Stephane Boudin’s assistant and by the late 1920's Pierre Delbee another young and talented designer with a flair for theatrical installations, became part of this tour de force.

After Jean-Henri Jansen's death in 1928, Gaston Schwartz and Stephane Boudin took the helm as his successors. The historically inspired repertoire of Jansen was now coupled with a modern and glamorous elegance derived from the inspiration of the recent "Exposition des Arts Decoratifs". Gaston Schwartz was the Modernist in the group and Boudin, having had an early training in his father's fabric business, the traditionalist . It was at this time that Schwartz introduced mirrored glass veneering as a Jansen staple along side the traditional carved paneling and furnishings, and the now classic Jansen low lacquered table often banded in ormolu.

Undoubtedly Schwartz was also influenced by the movie extravaganzas of the 1930's such as "Flying down to Rio" with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in which the über-Hollywood couple hand in hand descend a spectacular spiral staircase. While Hollywood was pretending, Jansen was flying to Geneva with amateur airplane pilot Francis Francis an Anglo-American client of Jansen and his lovely wife "Sunny" Solveig Jarman, (also a dancer) to their Swiss Chateau with its Chartreuse-colored lacquered walls and amazing recessed lighting throughout the entire house. There the party descended the spectacular three story white marble staircase with handrails and balusters of clear crystal terminating in shimmering waterfall posts. Beneath the stairwell, stands a polished chrome globe tipped on its axis on a hexagonal column with supports of glass and chrome reflecting in mirrored walls and marble floors. A true expression of the French Art deco period at its finest and most luxurious.

Stephane Boudin was determined that the emerging artists connected with the firm learn the principles of style and ornament as it related to traditional orders of proportion and balance. He met with them daily to review their work and arranged for them to travel Europe, filling sketch books with architectural drawings and ornamental designs of the past, which were eventually bound into many volumes for research and study. It was his meticulous attention to detail and to the education and scholarship of these young protegés that we can ascribe much of the continued success and ascendance of this legendary firm.

Boudin had the foresight to purchase some of the most beautiful circa 1770 paneling and flooring from the Paar Palace in Vienna before it was demolished In the 1930's. At a later date this paneling was to find a home in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City courtesy of his future client Jayne Wrightsman. After the second world war Boudin’s name was the only name associated with the company; in fact Boudin's name became synonymous with that of Jansen.

Boudin's last commission before his retirement in 1961 was for the Kennedy White house where he was introduced to Jackie by Jayne Wrightsman. Boudin was Jayne’s personal tutor in French decorative arts, introducing her to curators and taking her to museums. Boudin, in his seventies, handed the baton to his successor, Pierre Delbée, who would take on one of the most ambitious ventures in the history of interior design: the party for the Shah of Iran celebrating the 2,500 anniversary of the Persian Empire, believed to be at a cost exceeding 50 million dollars.

Maison Jansen, like its founder, never imposed its taste, on their clients; rather Maison Jansen continued in the tradition of reinforcing and clarifying the client’s individual taste giving them a backdrop against which to play out their busy and socially demanding lifestyles. It was the quiet and dignified way that the firm conducted business with attention to complete confidentiality that secured for them an unprecedented century of design authority with a roster of clients culled from an international elite including the richest, the most powerful, as well as the truly royal families of the twentieth century.