Designer, artist and architect Eileen Gray was one of the most fascinating creative figures of the 20th century. Her body of work includes lustrous lacquered pieces — her Dragons chair set an auction record for modern furniture ($28 million) at the 2009 sale of the Yves Saint Laurent estate — and sleek chrome furnishings that rival the work of Le Corbusier and the members of the Bauhaus as exemplars of pure, modernist design.
The independent and unconventional daughter of Irish landed gentry, Gray studied painting at London’s Slade School of Fine Art in her early twenties before moving to Paris in 1906 to pursue her artistic dreams. Gray had become captivated by lacquerware after seeing an exhibit in the Victoria & Albert Museum, and in Paris persuaded an expatriate Japanese master of the painstaking process, Seizo Sugawara, to teach her. Within a few years, Gray had become known among the cognoscenti for her sculptural lacquered furnishings, which she incorporated into the homes of interior design clients.
Gray was ever evolving as a designer. By the early 1920s she was creating geometric works that embodied the essence of Art Deco and the nascent modernist design movement. Some pieces — such as her Bricks screen, an assemblage of pivoting rectangular panels — employ the planar forms favored by Gerrit Rietveld and other De Stijl architects of the Netherlands. Others feature the tubular chrome framing used by Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. These include the Bibendum chair — named for the resemblance of its semicircular back and armrest to the character known in English as the Michelin Man — and the adjustable E 1027 side table, conceived in 1927 for the interiors of a stark white villa she designed for herself in the South of France.
Never a self-promoter, Gray drifted out of the limelight in the 1930s. Interest in her work was revived in the early ’70s, however, when the estates of her early clients came to auction. Her original lacquer pieces are the most coveted, but, as the sale of the Dragons chair shows, are rare and extremely expensive.
None of Gray’s designs were made in large numbers until, a few years before her death, she granted a production license. These pieces range in price from $1,000 to $2,500, depending on furniture type and condition. Gray’s work has become iconic of practical and elegant modernist design. Yet, as you will see on 1stDibs, many of her creations have a simplicity that makes them welcome even in a traditional setting.
Cabinet D'Architecture No. 12 by Eileen Gray for Classicon
By Eileen Gray
Located in Ravenna, IT
This piece is number 12 of the now closed edition of 25. The cabinet has several drawers of different sizes for storing tools and documents and has a folding shelf to provide a writi...
Steel
Chest of drawers and dressing table ClassiCon Petite Coiffeuse Eileen Gray Black
By Eileen Gray
Located in Alcamo, IT
Brand: ClassiCon Model: Petite Coiffeuse Design: Eileen Gray, 1926 The Petite Coiffeuse demonstrates Eileen Gray's mastery in combining elegant aesthetics with practical functionali...
Steel
Chest of drawers and dressing table ClassiCon Petite Coiffeuse Eileen Gray White
By Eileen Gray
Located in Alcamo, IT
Brand: ClassiCon Model: Petite Coiffeuse Design: Eileen Gray, 1926 The Petite Coiffeuse demonstrates Eileen Gray's mastery in combining elegant aesthetics with practical functionali...
Steel
Gray Gustavian Swedish Chest of Drawers, circa 1840-60
Located in Round Top, TX
Lovely Gustavian pine chest of three drawers with diamond accent on drawers, fluted canted sides, dentil molding and tapered fluted feet. The newer, professionally applied layered gr...
Brass
art deco chest of drawers chest of drawers 1940s
Located in Lemmer, NL
art deco chest of drawers chest of drawers 1940s period 1940-1949 design unknown condition good light signs of use size 88 x 45 x 34 (hxwxd) details oak; iron; article n...
Oak
$3,250
H 70.5 in W 45 in D 19 in
Antique Dressing Table/ Chest of Drawers with Gustavian Grey Paint & Oval Mirror
Located in INTERLAKEN, NY
A late 19th century pine chest of drawers or dressing table with newly-painted Gustavian grey/white or driftwood color paint. Offers an oval dressing mirror that pivots and rests over a table surface that is flanked on each side by a pedestal housing a drawer for toiletries, below which are two long...
Mirror, Pine
Matching Midnight Black Chest of Drawers
Located in Hollywood, FL
This is a matching midnight black chest of drawers. They have been restored and repainted with milk paints "Midnight Black".
Wood
Gray Painted Small Chest of Nine Drawers, Sweden circa 1860
Located in Round Top, TX
Fascinating Gustavian pine chest of nine drawers with fluted columns, dentil molding and tapered fluted feet. The unique configuration of drawers with central three in a square shape...
Pine, Paint
$1,520Sale Price|20% Off
H 31 in W 41 in D 29.5 in
41" Industrial Architectural Metal Flat File Cabinet
Located in Pasadena, TX
41" Industrial Architectural metal flat file cabinet Repurposed architects flat file cabinet featuring 15 drawers. Great for archival art stora...
Metal
$1,500
H 24.25 in W 17.75 in D 20 in
1950s George Nelson for Herman Miller BCS Three Drawer Cabinet (No Bench)
By Herman Miller, George Nelson
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This is an uncommon Walnut Cabinet with three drawers, designed by George Nelson for Herman Miller in 1946. This design was part of George Nelson's Basic Cabinet Series. It features ...
Metal
Architectural Early 19th Century German Biedermeier Cabinet
Located in Worpswede / Bremen, DE
A very rare and elegant Biedermeier cabinet of architectural form. Very simple in design with a fantastic and warm burr-ash veneer, accentuated with ebonized thread inlay, discs and ...
Ash, Fruitwood
Black Japanned Chest of Drawers
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
English Japanned chest of drawers with three small drawers over three long drawers. The legs are of a cabriole style with pad feet. The term "Japanned"...
Wood, Lacquer
Modern White Oak Chest of Drawers
Located in Astoria, NY
Modern White Oak Chest of Nine Drawers, with clear acrylic pulls. 26" H x 74" W x 21.5" D. Provenance: From an East 78th Street, New York Estate.
Acrylic, Oak
$1,900
H 21 in W 20 in D 12.5 in
Chinoiserie Hollywood Regency Polished Brass Chest of Drawers or Petite Cabinet
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Heavy high quality chest of drawers circa 1970's. It consists of brass clad wood cabinet with a black lacquered wood base. overall very good condition have a small dark spots in brass.
Brass
Chest of drawers
By Zanaboni
Located in Milan, IT
Combining the dark elegance of ebony with the strikingly large grain of the ziricote wood, this oval chest of drawers is a stunning piece of functional decor that will enrich the look of any bedroom. The bold structure rests on a base in brass, which occurs also in the metal details and in the handles of the drawers. The base boasts inserts of Corteccia marble for a luxurious final effect. Matching night tables...
Marble, Brass
Sold
H 28.55 in W 50.6 in D 25.2 in
Modernist Chrome Framed Fold-Out Table "Jean" by Eileen Gray for Alivar
By Eileen Gray, Alivar
Located in Doornspijk, NL
Fold-out table Jean was named after Eileen Gray‘s long time lover Jean Badovici. It has a frame made of chrome and a table top made of black melamine. Folded in the table is 64 cm lo...
Chrome