Design duo Garouste and Bonetti is best known for concocting Surrealist, avant-garde, romantic furniture and lighting that merge whimsy and wonder with luxury and sophistication.
Born in Paris in 1946, Élizabeth Garouste studied interior design at the École Camondo and worked as a theater set designer before meeting Mattia Bonetti in the late 1970s. Bonetti, born in Lugano, Switzerland, in 1952, attended Lugano’s Centro Scolastico per L’Industria Artistica, where he studied textile design and got into photography.
Their first collaboration came in 1981, after Garouste’s husband, interior designer Gérard Garouste, asked them both to produce designs for the Paris restaurant Le Privilège. They devised a collection of Art Brut–inspired furniture called Barbare, which debuted at the Jansen House of Interior Design, earning them the nickname Les Nouveaux Barbares (the New Barbarians).
Garouste and Bonetti achieved international acclaim in 1987 when French couturier Christian Lacroix hired them to design for his maisons de couture in Paris and London. Instead of the staid decor used by other haute couture houses, Garouste and Bonetti’s furnishings were rebellious and daring. As described in Architectural Digest, “rooms and carpets were acrid ochers, edged with black baroque swirls Louis XVI-inspired chairs upholstered in fruit tones. Tree stump stools topped with ivory tufted cushions. White curtains were trimmed with black polka dots the size of pancakes.”
Following their success with Lacroix, Garouste and Bonetti designed interiors for illustrious clients such as German socialite Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis and Bernard Picasso, a French art collector and grandson of Pablo Picasso.
Throughout the late 1980s and ’90s, Garouste and Bonetti designed several modern pieces such as rainbow-colored console tables, the wavy, high-backed Koala sofa, ceramic tableware, table lamps and decorative objects. In 2002, the duo parted ways.
Bonetti continues to create furniture, finding inspiration in everything from ancient Greece to children’s toys to UFOs. His works have been shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Garouste also continues to design and is inspired by the natural world for her “quirky pieces,” Élisabeth Delacarte, owner of the Paris gallery Avant-Scène, says of her designs: “You feel like you’re in a dream rather than in reality. She very much has her own universe.”
On 1stDibs, find a range of vintage Garouste and Bonetti tables, seating and serveware.
Two Garouste and Bonetti Bronze Boxes for the Collection of Herbert Blome 2001
By Elizabeth Garouste and Mattia Bonetti
Located in Milan, IT
Two Garouste and Bonetti Bronze Boxes for the Collection of Herbert Blome 2001 Both are fully signed
Bronze
Gem of a Bronze Antique Jewelry Box
Located in Hopewell, NJ
Beautiful heavy small jewelry box having ornate cast bronze surface and lined in red velvet.
Bronze
$18,761
H 1.19 in W 3.75 in D 4.34 in
“Cannabis” or “The World of Plants” by Line Vautrin, gilded bronze box, France
By Line Vautrin
Located in Uccle, BE
“Cannabis” or “The World of Plants” by Line Vautrin, gilded bronze box. “Finely chiseled gilt bronze box, the lid depicting a central plant whose leaves, veins, and roots radiate sym...
Bronze
$2,089
H 2.76 in W 3.94 in D 1.97 in
Set of 8 bronze sculptural door handles in the style of Garouste et Bonetti
By Elizabeth Garouste and Mattia Bonetti
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
1980's Set of 8 bronze Door handles in the style of Garouste et Bonetti
Bronze
French Victorian Bronze and Enamel Box
Located in Queens, NY
French Victorian bronze and multicolored enamel cloisonne box with floral and scroll design with red velvet interior.
Bronze, Enamel
$11,874
H 1.19 in W 3.12 in D 3.59 in
The sweeper of the Sacred Heart by Line Vautrin – Gilt bronze box
By Line Vautrin
Located in Uccle, BE
La balayeuse du Sacré-Coeur (The sweeper of the Sacred Heart) by Line Vautrin, gilt bronze box. Generously sized gilt bronze box. The lid chiselled with a decoration of a multitude o...
Bronze
Sèvres Porcelain And Bronze Box
Located in New Orleans, LA
Seven resplendent Sèvres porcelain plaques surround this magnificent doré bronze box. The bright floral motif on the plaques perfectly matches the intr...
Bronze
Bronze Box with a Map of Gronland ‘Greenland’ on the Lid
Located in NYC, NY
A bronze box with a map of Greenland (Cronland in Danish) incised into the top of the box lid, with a cerused oak interior on solid metal feet. Incised on the underside with makers m...
Bronze
Collection of Four 19th Century French Boxes
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Collection of four boxes from France. Hand-painted. 19th century. Measures: Oval box 2 inches H x 3.5 inches W x 3 inches D Round box 2 inches H x 3 inches D Small rectangle 1.5 i...
Paint
Round Porcelain Box from the Hatcher Collection Decorated with Phoenix
Located in Atlanta, GA
17th century Chinese porcelain blue and white cosmetics box from the Hatcher Collection decorated with a phoenix. The phoenix is painted with its wings outstretched, its tail flutter...
Porcelain
Set of Two Late 19th Century Baccarat Bronze & Glass Boxes
By Baccarat
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Set of two antique ormolu and cut-crystal casket boxes by Baccarat, France. Since 1764, Baccarat have crafted superb glass pieces for an elite clien...
Crystal, Bronze
French Crystal And Bronze Box
Located in Land O' Lakes, FL
Elegant French jewelry box crafted from heavy lead crystal and mounted in ornate bronze on ball feet. This finely detailed vanity casket features exceptional clarity and weight, embo...
Crystal, Bronze
Collection of Four Sterling and Silver Repousse Decorated Boxes
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Four decorative silver boxes, including three sterling silver boxes and one continental silver box, 20th century, some possibly earlier. These beautifully decorated boxes are perfect...
Sterling Silver