One of the most elegant and innovative 20th-century French furniture designers, Jacques Adnet created a simple, unadorned signature style that is both trim and vigorous. He began his career in the heyday of the Art Deco era, and in the 1950s, in association with Hermès, created chairs, lamps, desks and other pieces that employed slender metal frames clad in stitched saddle leather. With such furnishings, Adnet brought a fashion sensibility to design and decor that had not been seen since the 1920s prime of the great Paris couturier-decorator Paul Poiret.
Adnet was born in a provincial town in Burgundy, where he studied design before moving, along with his twin brother, Jean, to Paris to study at the École des Arts Décoratifs. After their graduation in the early 1920s, the brothers were hired to work in the decorative-arts atelier of the department store Galeries Lafayette, under the direction of Maurice Dufrêne, an Art Deco master who developed a singularly robust and opulent style. Both Adnets showed their work at the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes — the design fair from which the term Art Deco is derived.
In 1928, Jacques Adnet took charge of the struggling La Compagnie des Arts Français, a decorative-arts firm founded by Louis Süe and André Mare that created modern furnishings that bore traces of 18th-century styling. Adnet immediately took the company in a different direction. He developed a simple lithe and lean look that incorporated industrial materials such as metal and glass, along with exotic woods and finishes such as parchment and sharkskin.
Adnet’s furniture begs to be described in terms of personalities: charming faux-bamboo side tables, suave chrome lighting and urbane club chairs. His most noted pieces, which feature sleek metal frames wrapped in Hermès leather, have a character all their own — smooth, elegant and self-assured, they inhabit a room with the same wit and grace as Jean-Paul Belmondo and Catherine Deneuve.
Find vintage Jacques Adnet furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
Large Art Deco cockerel by Jacques Adnet - France 1930
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Girona, Girona
Art Deco large model of a cockerel, glazed and crackled earthenware. France circa 1932 Design: Jacques Adnet (1900-1984) Jacques Adnet was a French art deco designer, architect and...
Earthenware
Metal and Glass Modernist Citrus Squeezer by Jacques Adnet, France, 1930s
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Brussels, BE
Metal and glass Modernist Citrus squeezer by Jacques Adnet, France, 1930s.
Metal
Large Art Deco Ceramic by Jaget Et Pinon Factory in Tours, circa 1930
By Pinon Heuze
Located in Mouscron, WHT
JAGET ET PINON factory in Tours. Baluster vase with long necks and three handles in brown enamelled earthenware with gilt and copper decoration amid pl...
Ceramic
$1,053
H 7.09 in W 9.06 in D 3.94 in
Charles Lemanceau, Art Déco Cubist Elephant, Saint-Clement, France, 1930
By Charles Lemanceau, Saint-Clément
Located in Firenze, IT
Charles Lemanceau cubist elephant craquelé. Art Deco crème Craquelés glaze ceramic. Saint-Clement, France circa 1930 Bibliography: ‘Craqueles ...
Ceramic
Small Original Art Deco Ceramic Vase by Keith Murray, C.1930
By Keith Murray
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Lovely shaped cream ceramic vase made by Wedgwood. Designed by Keith Murray Makers marks and facsimile signature on base Tiny imperfection to the rim( shown in the images ) Fre...
Pottery
Ceramic bowl by Wilhelm Kåge, Argenta, Gustavsberg. Art Deco, 1930s
By Gustavsberg, Wilhelm Kage
Located in Knivsta, SE
Ceramic bowl by Wilhelm Kåge (1889-1960), Argenta, Gustavsberg Porslinsfabrik in Sweden. Art Deco, 1930s. Wear consistent with age and use
Ceramic
Large Original Art Deco Ceramic Vase by Keith Murray, C.1930
By Keith Murray
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Lovely shaped grey ceramic vase made by Wedgwood. Designed by Keith Murray Makers marks and facsimile signature on base 2 tiny hairline cracks to the rim.( shown in the images ) ...
Pottery
$2,846
H 13.78 in Dm 6.7 in
A NEO-CLASSICAL ART-DECO NOUVEAU Ceramic VASE by BETZY AUGERON, France 1930
By Betzy Augeron
Located in PARIS, FR
A rare and large Art-Deco, Art Nouveau, Modernist, vase, in beige stoneware with superb black, red, pink and dark green floral decoration, signed by stamp on the bottom, Betzy Augero...
Ceramic, Stoneware, Paint
Art Deco Blue Ceramic Pitcher, France 1930s
By West German Pottery
Located in ROUEN, Normandie
Art Deco Blue Ceramic Pitcher, France 1930s This ceramic pitcher, typically Art Deco, comes from France and dates back to the 1930s. It is coated with a deep blue glaze that highl...
Sandstone, Enamel
Rare Art Deco Ceramic Powder Bowl — “Aladin” Range, France , c1930
Located in Devon, England
A beautifully preserved and exceptionally rare Art Deco ceramic powder bowl featuring an elegant seated lady poised gracefully on a luxurious high-back chair. Crafted in France and p...
Ceramic
Art Deco French Flapper Powder Puff Stand, Circa 1930
Located in Devon, England
Art Deco 1930's ceramic powder bowl, signed underneath 'France'. Features a flapper girl vibrantly coloured with her black bob haircut. Made in France. A rare design and very high qu...
Ceramic
Art Deco Ceramic Powder Box Bowl, French , c1930
Located in Devon, England
Art Deco 1930s ceramic powder bowl, hand signed under the base Aladin France – made in France. Features a young woman vibrantly colored with her white bo...
Ceramic
Jean Besnard Art Deco Ceramic Dish, France 1930s
By Jean Besnard
Located in La Teste-de-Buch, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Ceramic dish by renowned French potter Jean Besnard. Partially glazed etched decor. Made in France in the 1930s. Monogrammed JB.
Ceramic
Jacques Adnet, Ceramic Turtledove, 1920s
By Jacques Adnet
Located in CA, CA
This wonderful ceramic sculpture of a Turtledove is by the key Art Deco designer Jacques Adnet and was first shown at the pivotal 'Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Moder...
Ceramic
Jacques Adnet, Ceramic Turtledove, 1920s
By Jacques Adnet
Located in CA, CA
A wonderful ceramic sculpture of a turtledove by Jacques Adnet. Finished in ivory crackle glaze and impressed Adnet, to the base First shown at the 1925 Exposition des Arts Decorat...
Ceramic
Jacques Adnet Signed Ceramic and Eggshell Vase, France, 1930s
By Jacques Adnet, Compagnie Des Arts Français
Located in La Teste-de-Buch, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Art Deco ceramic vase by French renowned design Jacques Adnet. Eggshell applied on red clay, circa 1935. Signed with logotype of La Compagnie des Arts Francais. Documented in the...
Eggshell
Jacques Adnet, Ceramic Turtledove, 1925
By Jacques Adnet
Located in CA, CA
A wonderful ceramic sculpture of a turtledove by Jacques Adnet. Finished in ivory crackle glaze and impressed Adnet, to the base First shown at the 1925 Exposition des Arts Decorat...
Ceramic
Ceramic Poodle by Adnet, France, Art Deco, circa 1930
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Paris, FR
Large long hair ceramic puddle by Jean & Jacques Adnet (1900-1984). Off white enameled ceramic. Signed 'Adnet' on a side and numbered '42' under a leg. Bibliography: 'Bibelots ce´...
Ceramic
Jacques ADNET & Lusca: Candy Box
By Jacques Adnet, Lusca
Located in Encino, CA
Jacques ADNET & LUSCA (1900 - 1984) Candy box in enameled ceramic, circa around 1950. H: 6"1/2 x W: 5"3/4 Signed and stamped. Illustrated in the Lusc...