Fine French Art Deco Perzel

The graceful and stylish modern furniture designed by Jean Perzel earned him prestigious clients all over the world, including the Rothschilds and Henry Ford. His sleek Art Deco lighting fixtures are masterpieces of design, and his work has graced the homes of the kings of Morocco and Siam, and the French presidents Charles De Gaulle and Georges Pompidou. Vintage Perzel tables, floor lamps and other furnishings elegantly accentuate and complement — but never overpower — the architecture of their environment.

Perzel was born in Germany. His father and grandfather were glassmakers, and Jean learned to love the craft just as they did. He apprenticed with stained glass artist Franz Xaver Zettler in Munich and left his native country at a young age to travel around Europe. While traveling, he took jobs in various workshops and made his way to Paris around 1910. There he worked for a master glassmaker and was sent to their Algiers factory, where he supervised the production of the company’s more important commissions.

After serving in the Foreign Legion during the first World War, Perzel became a French citizen. He returned to glass painting in 1919 and became a stained glass artist in the workshop of revered Art Nouveau furniture designer Jacques Gruber.

Perzel eventually became fascinated with the burgeoning lighting industry’s then-new technology. He explored how illumination worked in big spaces such as the era’s stately cathedrals and bustling transit hubs and began to concentrate on designing elegant electric fixtures that offered diffused light in a uniform way.

Perzel opened his atelier in Paris in 1923 and produced decorative wall lights and sconces, chandeliers, floor and table lamps, and ceiling lights. He worked with frosted or sandblasted glass and colored enamels to design functional, geometrically rich fixtures that transformed an interior. Perzel’s work was included in the the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts — the exhibition credited with having widely publicized the Art Deco style — and he drew the attention of American industrialist Henry Ford, who commissioned him to design lamps, clocks and other objects that incorporated Ford auto parts. Perzel’s commission would help commemorate the production of 25 million Ford vehicles in Michigan. This cemented Perzel’s reputation as a prestigious lighting designer and manufacturer, and he was tasked with the production of headlights for Ford cars. The Ford-Perzel relationship endured for decades.

Perzel is renowned for designing the lighting for the Luxembourg Cathedral, the League of Nations in Geneva and the Canadian embassy in the Hague. He also collaborated with some of history’s most celebrated architects and designers, including Jules Leleu, Le Corbusier and Michel Roux-Spitz.

On 1stDibs, find vintage Atelier Jean Perzel lighting and other furniture.

Art Deco furniture is characterized by its celebration of modern life. More than its emphasis on natural wood grains and focus on traditional craftsmanship, vintage Art Deco dining chairs, tables, desks, cabinets and other furniture — which typically refers to pieces produced during the 1920s and 1930s — is an ode to the glamour of the “Roaring Twenties.” 

ORIGINS OF ART DECO FURNITURE DESIGN

• Emerged in the 1920s 
• Flourished while the popularity of Art Nouveau declined
• Term derives from 1925’s Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts) in Paris, France
• Informed by Ancient Egypt, Cubism, Futurism, Louis XVI, De Stijl, modernism and the Vienna Secession; influenced Streamline Moderne and mid-century modernism 

CHARACTERISTICS OF ART DECO FURNITURE DESIGN

• Bold geometric lines and forms, floral motifs
• Use of expensive materials such as shagreen or marble as well as exotic woods such as mahogany, ebony and zebra wood
• Metal accents, shimmering mirrored finishes
• Embellishments made from exotic animal hides, inlays of mother-of-pearl or ivory

ART DECO FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW

• Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann
• René Lalique
• Eileen Gray
• Jean Dunand
• Donald Deskey
• Jean Perzel

VINTAGE ART DECO FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS

Few design styles are as universally recognized and appreciated as Art Deco. The term alone conjures visions of the Roaring Twenties, Machine Age metropolises, vast ocean liners, sleek typography and Prohibition-era hedonism. The iconic movement made an indelible mark on all fields of design throughout the 1920s and ’30s, celebrating society’s growing industrialization with refined elegance and stunning craftsmanship.

Widely known designers associated with the Art Deco style include Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Eileen Gray, Maurice Dufrêne, Paul Follot and Jules Leleu.

The term Art Deco derives from the name of a large decorative arts exhibition held in Paris in 1925. “Art Deco design” is often used broadly, to describe the work of creators in associated or ancillary styles. This is particularly true of American Art Deco, which is also called Streamline Moderne or Machine Age design. (Streamline Moderne, sometimes known as Art Moderne, was a phenomenon largely of the 1930s, post–Art Nouveau.)

Art Deco textile designers employed dazzling floral motifs and vivid colors, and while Art Deco furniture makers respected the dark woods and modern metals with which they worked, they frequently incorporated decorative embellishments such as exotic animal hides as well as veneers in their seating, case pieces, living room sets and bedroom furniture.

From mother-of-pearl inlaid vitrines to chrome aviator chairs, bold and inventive works in the Art Deco style include chaise longues (also known as chaise lounges) and curved armchairs. Today, the style is still favored by interior designers looking to infuse a home with an air of luxury and sophistication.

The vintage Art Deco furniture for sale on 1stDibs includes dressers, coffee tables, decorative objects and more.

The right table lamp, outwardly sculptural chandelier or understated wall pendant can work wonders for your home. While we’re indebted to thinkers like Thomas Edison for critically important advancements in lighting and electricity, we’re still finding new ways to customize illumination to fit our personal spaces all these years later. A wide range of antique and vintage lighting can be found on 1stDibs.

Today, lighting designers like the self-taught Bec Brittain have used the flexible structure of LEDs to craft glamorous solutions by working with what is typically considered a harsh lighting source. By integrating glass and mirrors, reflection can be used to soften the glow from LEDs and warmly welcome light into any space.

Although contemporary innovators continue to impress, some of the classics can’t be beat. 

Just as gazing at the stars allows you to glimpse the universe’s past, vintage chandeliers like those designed by Gino Sarfatti and J. & L. Lobmeyr, for example, put on a similarly stunning show, each with a rich story to tell.

As dazzling as it is, the Arco lamp, on the other hand, prioritizes functionality — it’s wholly mobile, no drilling required. Designed in 1962 by architect-product designers Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, the piece takes the traditional form of a streetlamp and creates an elegant, arching floor fixture for at-home use.

There is no shortage of modernist lighting similarly prized by collectors and casual enthusiasts alike — there are Art Deco table lamps created in a universally appreciated style, the Tripod floor lamp by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Greta Magnusson Grossman's sleek and minimalist Grasshopper lamps and, of course, the wealth of mid-century experimental lighting that emerged from Italian artisans at Arredoluce, FLOS and many more are hallmarks in illumination innovation. 

With decades of design evolution behind it, home lighting is no longer just practical. Crystalline shaping by designers like Gabriel Scott turns every lighting apparatus into a luxury accessory. A new installation doesn’t merely showcase a space; carefully chosen ceiling lights, table lamps and floor lamps can create a mood, spotlight a favorite piece or highlight your unique personality.

The sparkle that your space has been missing is waiting for you amid the growing collection of antique, vintage and contemporary lighting for sale on 1stDibs.