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 Cart Bar Trolley Tea Table
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Lège Cap Ferret, FR
This magnificent Jacques Adnet bar cart comes from a Chateau in the Medoc near Bordeaux in the South West of France where it has been since the 1950s The glass of the tray sti...
Metal, Aluminum
1950's Stitched Leather Sideboard by Jacques Adnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
1950's stitched leather sideboard by Jacques Adnet Oak and leather.
Leather, Oak
Sideboard by Umberto Mascagni, 1950s
By Umberto Mascagni
Located in Budapest, HU
Sideboard by Umberto Mascagni. Four doors and four-drawer and the mirror. We have the complete dining suite: Table and six chairs and bar cabinet.
Aluminum
Adnet Style Saddle Stitched Leather Cantilevered Wall Console
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Hanover, MA
A wall console wrapped in saddle leather supported by two L shaped brackets with a top stitch detail in the manner of Jacques Adnet. One drawer with a piece of leather serving as the...
Leather
$59,895 / set
H 34 in W 36 in D 18 in
Pair French Hand Stitched Leather & Brass Faux Bamboo Commodes by Jacques Adnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in New York, NY
A Rare and Important Pair of French Midcentury Modern Neoclassical hand stitched leather and brass faux bamboo cabinets, dressers, commodes or chest of drawers by Jacques Adnet, circ...
Brass
$2,090
H 30.32 in W 36.23 in D 18.9 in
Mid-Century Mahogany Wood and Brass Italian Serving Bar Cart, 1960s
Located in Roma, IT
Unique mid-century bar cart in mahogany wood and brass. This fantastic item was designed in Italy during the 1960s. This magnificent bar cart is amazing because of the shape of th...
Metal, Brass
Mid century Jacques Adnet bar trolley
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Henley-on Thames, Oxfordshire
Mid century bar cart attributed to Jacques Adnet – Steel frame clad in saddle stitched black leather. A classic Adnet design with it’s original glass shelves. France circa 1960 Jac...
Steel
Jacques Adnet Bar Cart
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Miami, FL
Jacques Adnet 2-tier bar cart, removable top mirror tray. Very good condition, wheels in good condition. Tray dimensions: 24 / 15 inches.
Chrome
Boho Chic Rattan and Wicker Bar Cart
Located in Redding, CT
Boho Chic Rattan and wicker Bar Cart. Wicker top and bottom shelf with rattan structure. Cabinet doors open to ample space for bottles. Easy to wheel ...
Metal
$68,000
H 29.93 in W 47.25 in D 23.63 in
Jacques Adnet - A French 1950s Desk with Lamp by Jacques Adnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Long Island City, NY
Jacques Adnet - A fine French Mid-Century rectangular desk and lamp, with a black lacquered metal base, pivoting leather covered drawer, saddle-stitched leather mail holder...
Metal
Jacques Adnet Chest of Drawers, France 1950's
By Jacques Adnet
Located in New York, NY
Olive green Chest of drawers with faux bamboo leather wrapped legs, recessed brass campaign handles.
Brass
Jacques Adnet Leather and Oak Desk, 1950s France
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Monumental Art Deco era desk by French Art Deco Modernist designer Jacques Adnet. Iron frame with 4 posts, inverted u-shaped bases and brass support ...
Brass, Iron
$1,971
H 26.38 in W 30.71 in D 16.93 in
Midcentury Wood Brass and Enameled Metal Serving Bar Cart and Bottle Holder 1960
Located in Roma, IT
Amazing midcentury wood bar cart in with a stunning black metal structure with brass finishes and three chromed metal bottle holders. This fantast...
Metal, Brass
Louis XVI Sideboard 1950
Located in MILL, NL
Louis XVI Sideboard 1950 French Louis XVI style sideboard Originally from France, early/mid-20th century. Crafted in mahogany. With a thick white marble top Generally in very good,...
Marble
Jacques Adnet Cart Bar Trolley Tea Table
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Lège Cap Ferret, FR
This magnificent Jacques Adnet bar cart comes from a Chateau in the Medoc near Bordeaux in the South West of France where it has been since the 1950s It has been dismantled and ...
Metal, Aluminum
Sold
H 28.94 in W 30.12 in D 30.12 in
Bridge or Games Table with Folding Legs by Jacques Adnet, France
By Jacques Adnet, Compagnie Des Arts Français
Located in Uccle, BE
Bridge table with folding legs, entirely covered in saddle stitched leather. Steel legs covered in saddle stitched black leather. The top als...
Leather
Stitched Leather Table by Jacques Adnet
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Bois-Colombes, FR
Stitched leather willing table or console by Jacques Adnet, France, 1950s.
Metal
Jacques Adnet Black Leather Cart Table, 1960
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Encino, CA
Jacques Adnet, rolling cart or trolley adjustable table with black lacquered metal covered with black (Piqué sellier), saddle stitch leather. Top and shelf covered in black vinyl, t...
Brass, Metal