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.
Jacques Adnet Leather Bar Stool, France, circa 1950
By Jacques Adnet
Located in New York, NY
This spare bar stool in leather and painted cast iron sets up a stark contrast between form and composition. Constructed in sleek lines, and of Industria...
Iron
1950's Stitched Leather Pair of Chairs by Jacques Adnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
1950's Stitched leather pair of chairs by Jacques Adnet. Very good condition.
Metal
1950's Stitched leather Ottomans by Jacques Adnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
A Rare French Midcentury Modern hand stitched leather Ottomans by Jacques Adnet, circa 1955. Adnet had a rare talent for creating works that had used exquisite form and lines with ri...
Metal
Pair of 1950's Stitched leather ottomans by Jacques Adnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
Pair of 1950's Stitched Leather Ottomans with brass feet Price given for a pair
Brass
1950's Stitched leather armchairs by Jacques Adnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
A Rare French Midcentury Modern hand stitched leather arm chairs by Jacques Adnet, circa 1955. Adnet had a rare talent for creating works that had used exquisite form and lines with ...
Leather
Jacques Adnet, Suite of Five Armchairs in Blackened Wood and Red Velvet, circa 1
By Jacques Adnet
Located in NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, FR
A suite of five armchairs by Jacques Adnet (1900–1984), executed circa 1950 in blackened wood with red velvet upholstery. The geometric precision of the frame, with its flat angular ...
Velvet, Wood
Jacques Adnet, Rare Settee, Leather, Steel, France, 1950s
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Stamford, CT
Jacques Adnet, French Mid-Century Modern, Rare Settee, Leather, Steel, Upholstery, France, 1950s A unique settee designeda and produced by Jacques Adnet (1900-1984) in France c. 195...
Steel
Jacques Adnet Leather Chair
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Stunning chair by French designer Jacques Adnet. Black iron frame with black leather seat and seat back. Chair sits on brass feet and features a triangular support under the seat whi...
Iron
1950's Stitched leather armchair by Jacques Adnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
Very nice armchair covered with stitched leather on black metal base Nice vintage condition Could be a great match with a desk or in a bed room Bi-color Blac...
Metal
$9,075
Jacques Adnet chairs
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Paris, FR
Elegant set of four Jacques Adnet chairs covered with leather hand stitched piqué-sellier.
Leather
1950's Stitched leather desk armchair by Jacques Adnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
1950's Stitched leather desk armchair by Jacques Adnet Seat high : 4" cm Armrest : 67 cm
Leather
Black Leather Armchair by Jacques Adnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Dimensions: 25.5"w x 26"d x 28"h x 16"sh Designer: Jacques Adnet France, c1950s VNT1009
Leather
1950's pair of stitched leather stools by Jacques Adnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
Nice pair of stitched leather stools Burgundy Jacques Adnet France 1950's
Leather
1950's Stitched leather ottoman by Jacques Adnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
1950's Stitched leather ottoman BY Jacques Adnet
Brass
Pair of Stitched leather chairs by Jacques Adnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
1950's stitched leather pair of armchairs Black métal and dark blue leather Great condition Designed by Jacques Adnet France
Metal
$24,500 / set
Set of Four Art Deco Oak Armchairs by Jacques Adnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Montreal, QC
Set of four Art Deco oak armchairs by Jacques Adnet upholstered in fuschia color.
Beech
Pair of 1950's Stitched leather ottomans by Jacques Adnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
NIce pair of stitched leather ottomans designed by Jacques Adnet Great condition France
Brass
1950's Stitched leather armchair by Jacques Asnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
1950's Stitched leather armchair by Jacques Adnet Could be nice to match with a writing table or abed room
Leather
Leather Stool with Brass Capped Feet by Jacques Adnet, France, c. 1940
By Jacques Adnet
Located in New York City, NY
Gorgeous leather stool with stitched leather legs and patinated brass capped feet. This is a great example of Adnet's work; a real collector's item.
Brass
1950's Pair of Stitched Leather Stools by Jacques Adnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
1950's pair of stitched leather stools by Jacques Adnet France.
Leather