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Atelier Marolles Furniture

French

The stark brutalist furniture and decor created by Jean Touret and Les Artisans de Marolles during the 20th century is ripe for a comeback, and it is today drawing the attention of galleries and collectors.

French artist Jean Touret was the founder of Les Artisans de Marolles, a group of furniture makers based in the Loire Valley in the postwar era. The rustic but exquisitely proportioned pieces they produced included benches made from gouged wood, a wrought-iron sconce in the form of a cockerel, three-legged stools with seats carved to hug the body and a series of exceptional credenzas whose doors were sculpted by Touret himself, with themes like the seven deadly sins and pastoral life. 

Touret’s talents were not deployed only on tables and lighting. From the mid-1960s until shortly before his death, in 2004, he earned his living largely through ecclesiastical commissions, the most famous of which was the altarpiece at Notre-Dame de Paris. Installed in 1989 and destroyed in the fire that swept through the cathedral in 2019, the work consisted of a brass chest clad with bronze panels depicting the evangelists and the four great prophets.

More than anything, Touret was a sculptor, although a rather unsuccessful one during his lifetime. He rarely exhibited, sold next to nothing and was never able to afford a heated studio.

Touret was born in 1916 and largely brought up in Le Mans, in western France. He worked in the legal department of a local insurance company before fighting in World War II, during which he spent five years as a prisoner of war on the German–Czechoslovakian border. There, he had his first real contact with wood while being forced to work as a lumberjack. At the end of hostilities, he returned to France, settled in Marolles with his wife, Odile, and declared that he would become an artist (he had previously taken evening classes with a painter in Le Mans). In 1950, the manager of the Château de Chambord commissioned him to create a number of sculptures of deer and wild boars for the pavilions in the château’s park. That same year, Touret established Les Artisans de Marolles. For him, it was more a social venture than an artistic one. As industrialization expanded in postwar France, the village’s craftsmen found themselves in need of work.

The collective’s founding members were a basket maker, a potter, a blacksmith and a carpenter. The last, Émile Leroy, continued his work as a coffin maker while participating in the group. Touret acted as artistic director, imposing his aesthetic vision through direct discussions with the craftsmen in their workshops rather than through drawings. Over the years, the collective’s output was regularly exhibited in both the Marolles village hall and the more magnificent setting of the nearby Château Royal de Blois. Certain items were also stocked by the Primavera boutique in Paris, an offshoot of the department store Le Printemps.

To respond to the increasing demand, craftsmen from other villages were brought in, and as their numbers rose, so did tensions and disputes. Uninterested in ego management, Touret increasingly took a back seat, moving to a village on the other bank of the Loire in 1963 before officially quitting the following year. Although Atelier Maroles continued to exist until 1970, the aesthetic quality of its production took a marked turn for the worse.

Touret then stopped creating secular furniture altogether. In 1965, he met a young chaplain at the Sorbonne, Jean-Marie Lustiger, who went on to become not only his most indefatigable supporter but also a cardinal and the archbishop of Paris. It was Lustiger who initiated most of Touret’s commissions for the Church, whether monumental sculptures of Christ, liturgical furniture or the Notre-Dame de Paris altarpiece.

Until recently, Touret’s furniture and decor had been forgotten for decades. Its rediscovery is largely due to dealers like Benoist F. Drut, at Maison Gerard in New York, and Yves and Victor Gastou, in Paris, who were attracted to its elemental forms and handcrafted spirit. An exhibition in 2022 at the Galerie Gastou posthumously shed light on the work

Find vintage Atelier Maroles furniture on 1stDibs.

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Creator: Atelier Marolles
Pair of French Iron Rooster Andirons by Atelier Marolles
By Atelier Marolles
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Unique pair of andirons by Atelier Marolles from France, 1950's. Heavy forged iron with whimsical rooster motif. Surface shows great age, rust and patina.
Category

Mid-20th Century French Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Wrought Iron

Ateliers Marolles Rooster "Coq" Sculpture Hand Forged Iron by Francis Dewaele
By Atelier Marolles
Located in Chicago, IL
Ateliers Marolles France hand forged iron rooster or “coq” with black patina. Hand forged by Francis Dewaele ,who was the iron artisan at Ateliers Marolles.circa 1950's/
Category

1950s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Iron

Les Artisans De Marolles / Egg Cup Sculpture in Rattan and Oak, circa 1960
By Atelier Marolles, Jean Touret
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Les Artisans De Marolles under the artistic direction of Jean Touret Rare Zoomrphe sculpture "egg cups" representing a rooster in basketwork ...
Category

1960s French Brutalist Vintage Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Rattan, Oak

Wrought iron rooster lamp by Jean Touret / les Ateliers de Marolles, 1950's
By Atelier Marolles, Jean Touret
Located in VÉZELAY, FR
Wrought iron rooster lamp, horseshoe-shaped lamp base by Jean Touret / Les Ateliers de Marolles. Mid-Century Modern, France, Circa 1950 By ...
Category

1950s French Folk Art Vintage Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Metal, Wrought Iron

French Wrought Iron Six Arm Chandelier by Atelier Marolles
By Atelier Marolles
Located in London, GB
Striking chandelier by Jean Touret for Atelier Marolles. Made of Wrought by the artisans of Marolles, France C.1950 Fantastic quality. - We offer free shipping to the USA/Canada...
Category

1950s French Vintage Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Iron

Wrought Iron Animal Fire Screen by Atelier Marolles, France, 1950's
By Atelier Marolles
Located in Den Haag, NL
Wrought iron animal fire screen by Atelier Marolles, France, 1955. Very decorative and useful piece with dense mesh against the sparks.
Category

Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Wrought Iron, Metal

Wrought Iron Animal Fire Screen by Atelier Marolles, France, 1955
By Atelier Marolles
Located in Den Haag, NL
Wrought iron animal fire screen by Atelier Marolles, France, 1955. Very decorative and useful piece with dense mesh against the sparks.
Category

Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Wrought Iron, Metal

French Brutalist Elm Coffee Table by Atelier Marolles
By Atelier Marolles, Jean Touret
Located in Houston, TX
French Brutalist elm coffee table by Atelier Marolles. This handsome hand carved French elm rectangular coffee table or cocktail table is a stunning example of the craftsmen at the A...
Category

1960s French Brutalist Vintage Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Elm

Rooster Floor Lamp in Wrought Iron by Jean Touret for Ateliers Marolles, 1950's
By Atelier Marolles, Jean Touret
Located in VÉZELAY, FR
Beautiful quadripod floor lamp depicting a rooster, in wrought and hammered iron. Mid-Century Modern, France, circa 1950-1960. By Jean Touret (1916-2004), French sculptor and d...
Category

1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Wrought Iron

Artisans of Marolles, Rustic Red Oak Side Chair, France, Midcentury
By Atelier Marolles
Located in New York, NY
Stamped Jean Touret moved to Pezay, a rural area near Marolles, in 1946. While there, he became highly conscious of the uncertainty that Industrial development would bring to the ...
Category

Mid-20th Century French Rustic Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Oak

Jean Touret & The Artisans of Marolles Pair of Candle Sconces, France circa 1960
By Atelier Marolles, Jean Touret
Located in New York, NY
Stamped: Marolles Jean Touret moved to Pezay, a rural area near Marolles, in 1946. While there, he became highly conscious of the uncertainty that Industrial development would bri...
Category

Mid-20th Century French Rustic Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Oak

Rare Tripod Stools by Jean Touret for Ateliers Marolles
By Atelier Marolles, Jean Touret
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Hand gouged oak stools by Jean Touret for Ateliers Marolles. Made in France circa 1960s. Priced per item. Jean Touret moved to Pezay, a rural area near Marolles, in 1946. While ther...
Category

1950s French Vintage Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Oak

Jean Touret & the Artisans of Marolles Center Table, France, circa 1960
By Atelier Marolles, Jean Touret
Located in New York, NY
Stamped "Marolles." Edition of 20 Jean Touret moved to Pezay, a rural area near Marolles, in 1946. While there, he became highly conscious of the uncertainty that Industrial development would bring to the future of the local craftsmen. Believing strongly in the value of the artisan...
Category

Mid-20th Century French Organic Modern Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Elm

Ateliers Marolles by Jean Touret Table Lamp Wrought Iron
By Jean Touret, Atelier Marolles
Located in Chicago, IL
French Midcentury table lamp by Ateliers de Marolles. Created by Jean Touret, artistic director and Henri VION, ironworker, France, ca.1950. Tripod table lamp with rooster singing pa...
Category

1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Wrought Iron

20th Century French Metal Mesh Panels Screen by Atelier de Marolles, Jean Touret
By Atelier Marolles, Jean Touret
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A vintage Mid-Century modern French room diver made of hand crafted wrought iron designed by Jean Touret and produced by Atelier de Marolles, in good condition. The detailed Brutalis...
Category

Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Metal, Wrought Iron

Jean Touret, Marolles Wrought-iron Tripodal Table Lamp, France, 1950-1955
By Atelier Marolles, Jean Touret
Located in New York, NY
Jean Touret moved to Pezay, a rural area near Marolles, in 1946. While there, he became highly conscious of the uncertainty that Industrial development would bring to the future of t...
Category

Mid-20th Century French Rustic Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Wrought Iron

French Brutalist Elm Dining Table Or Center Table By Atelier Marolle.
By Atelier Marolles
Located in Houston, TX
French Brutalist Elm Dining Table Or Center Table By Atelier Marolles. Handsome and versatile French Brutalist table by Atelier Marolles. This large18900table can be used as a dining...
Category

1960s French Brutalist Vintage Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Elm

French 1960s Dining Table by Jean Touret & the Artisans of Marolles
By Atelier Marolles, Jean Touret
Located in Long Island City, NY
Jean Touret & the Artisans of Marolles - A fine mid-century rectangular dining table with a wrought iron base that supports a solid oak top adorned with wrought iron nails.
Category

1960s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Wrought Iron

Atelier Marolles Set of Four Chairs, circa 1950
By Atelier Marolles
Located in New York, NY
Atelier Marolles set of four chairs, circa 1950. Wood.
Category

1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Atelier Marolles Furniture

Jean Touret & The Artisans of Marolles, Rectangular Dining Table, circa 1960
By Atelier Marolles, Jean Touret
Located in New York, NY
Stamped "Marolles." Jean Touret moved to Pezay, a rural area near Marolles, in 1946. While there, he became highly conscious of the uncertainty that industrial development would bring to the future of the local craftsmen. Believing strongly in the value of the artisan...
Category

Mid-20th Century French Rustic Atelier Marolles Furniture

Materials

Wrought Iron

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Atelier Marolles Animal Screen, France, 1955
Atelier Marolles Animal Screen, France, 1955
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Wrought iron rooster floor lamp Atelier Morolles France 1955
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Atelier Marolles furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Atelier Marolles furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Atelier Marolles furniture, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original furniture by Atelier Marolles were created in the mid-century modern style in france during the 1950s.

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