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Jean Dunand Furniture

Swiss, French, 1877-1942

A prolific talent, Jean Dunand was one of the most extraordinary and emblematic designers of the early 20th century. He produced well over a thousand Art Deco works in an almost dizzying array of media. He is best remembered for his exquisite creations in lacquer and metal, but he also worked as a sculptor, mosaicist, portraitist and goldsmith. The Swiss-born Parisian designer imagined jewelry, tapestries, fabrics for haute couture and, during World War I, even a helmet for soldiers with an adjustable visor.

Dunand’s clients included fashion designers Jeanne Lanvin, Madeleine Vionnet and Elsa Schiaparelli, as well as Josephine Baker, who used his vases and screens for her stage sets. She also posed nude for him, and her likeness appears on several lacquer panels. He collaborated with Robert Mallet-Stevens on a boutique for the Swiss leather-goods brand Bally on Paris’s boulevard de la Madeleine, and he lacquered furniture for both Eugène Printz and Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann.

The two highlights of his professional life, however, were no doubt his participation in the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris in 1925 and the decor he imagined for a number of luxury ocean liners, the largest and most prestigious of which was the Normandie, which first set sail in May 1935.

At the 1925 exhibition, from which Art Deco derives its name, Dunand made his mark not only with a series of four monumental hammered-copper vases, decorated with striking geometric patterns in lacquer consisting of squares, triangles, chevrons and undulating lines, but also with the sleek and stylish smoking room he designed for the Pavillon de la Société des Artisans Décorateurs.

Born Jules-John Dunand in 1877 (he Frenchified his first name later) close to Geneva in Switzerland, his first career was as a sculptor. He moved to Paris in 1897 and won a gold medal at the Exposition universelle de 1900 for a bronze proof titled Quo vadis. Five years later, he had turned his attention almost exclusively to the decorative arts. In an ensuing interview, he explained, “The desire to earn a living was partly responsible for my abandoning what is known as ‘fine art.’”

In 1912, Dunand met the Japanese lacquer master Seizo Sugawara, who initiated him into the secrets of the medium’s age-old techniques. It was not until 1921, however, that he presented his first pieces of lacquer furniture. Dunand was not the only Art Deco designer to use the material (Eileen Gray famously did so too), but he employed it much more prolifically and decoratively.

By 1924, he was at the head of a workshop of nearly 60 employees producing objects that ranged from boxes and trays to card tables and screens, many of which bore breathtakingly beautiful motifs consisting of interlocking lines and geometric shapes. By 1927, he had abandoned abstract patterns, favoring instead rich and complex figurative designs, largely featuring animals against stylized backgrounds of leaves and flowers, an aesthetic not far removed from the paintings of Henri Rousseau.

Dunand continued his work relentlessly until his death, in 1942 at the age of 65.

After World War II, Art Deco went completely out of style, and Dunand’s work was largely neglected until the mid-1970s. Since then, it has gained something of a cult following. Karl Lagerfeld, Yves Saint Laurent, Andy Warhol and Marc Jacobs all had Dunand creations in their collections.

Find vintage Jean Dunand decorative objects, ceramics and other Art Deco works on 1stDibs.

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Creator: Jean Dunand
Jean Dunand Art Deco Lacquer and Eggshell Cigarettes Case 'Signed'
By Jean Dunand
Located in Barjols, FR
Jean Dunand (1877-1942) A rare lacquer and eggshell cigarettes case. Lacquered metal, inlaid with eggshell, the reverse lacquered black. S...
Category

1920s French Art Deco Vintage Jean Dunand Furniture

Materials

Eggshell, Lacquer

Plate
By Jean Dunand
Located in Paris, FR
Circular tray in copper inlaid with silver with radiating decoration of palmettes. Signed "JEAN DUNAND".
Category

1920s French Art Deco Vintage Jean Dunand Furniture

Materials

Silver, Copper

Tacchini Nebula Poissons Screen Divider Designed by Jean Dunand
By Jean Dunand, Tacchini
Located in New York, NY
The screen is one of the more intriguing themes in the design world: with its two-dimensional form, it can give shape to a three-dimensional space. What’s more, it is something of an...
Category

2010s Italian Jean Dunand Furniture

Materials

Fabric

Tacchini Nebula Interiors Screen Divider Designed by Pearson Lloyd
By Jean Dunand, Tacchini
Located in New York, NY
The screen is one of the more intriguing themes in the design world: with its two-dimensional form, it can give shape to a three-dimensional space. What’s more, it is something of an...
Category

2010s Italian Jean Dunand Furniture

Materials

Fabric

Jean Dunand French Art Nouveau Bronze Vase
By Jean Dunand
Located in New York, NY
Jean Dunand French Art Nouveau transitional diminutive bronze vase, stamped with makers mark on bottom. In remarkable antique condition with age-appropriate wear.
Category

Early 1900s French Art Nouveau Antique Jean Dunand Furniture

Materials

Bronze

Vase by Jean Dunand
By Jean Dunand
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Vase by Jean Dunand. Patinated heavy bronze with inlaid gold details, 1910-1912. Incised signature on base, JEAN DUNAND. Measures: Height 3", diameter 3".
Category

1910s French Art Deco Vintage Jean Dunand Furniture

Materials

Bronze

Jean Dunand, Art Deco Lacquered Side Table, France, 1920s
By Jean Dunand
Located in New York, NY
Square tope with crushed eggshell decoration, resting on four angled legs of triangular section in black Chinese lacquer. Original condition. Si...
Category

1920s French Art Deco Vintage Jean Dunand Furniture

Materials

Eggshell, Wood

Jean Dunand, Small Conical Dinanderie Vase, France, 1913
By Jean Dunand
Located in New York, NY
A remarkable vase dating from the very beginning of the Art Deco period, this piece, by the inimitable Jean Dunand, has a surface colored and perforated so as to appear like the scal...
Category

1930s French Art Deco Vintage Jean Dunand Furniture

Materials

Copper

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Previously Available Items
Pin Box, circa 1913
By Jean Dunand
Located in Paris, FR
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1910s European Art Deco Vintage Jean Dunand Furniture

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Brass

  • Pin Box, circa 1913
  • Pin Box, circa 1913
  • Pin Box, circa 1913
  • Pin Box, circa 1913
H 1.78 in. W 3.63 in. D 3.63 in.
Ovoid Vase, 1912
By Jean Dunand
Located in Paris, FR
A Dinanderie vase, entirely black lacquered. Signed underside. Origin: Private collection, Paris.
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  • Ovoid Vase, 1912
  • Ovoid Vase, 1912
  • Ovoid Vase, 1912
  • Ovoid Vase, 1912
H 16.15 in. W 7.49 in. D 7.49 in.
Vase, circa 1925
By Jean Dunand
Located in Paris, FR
Brass dinanderie ovoid vase with stylized vegetal decoration with silver patina on a plain brown background. Signed "JEAN DUNAND". Origin Collection of a member of the artist'...
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  • Vase, circa 1925
  • Vase, circa 1925
  • Vase, circa 1925
  • Vase, circa 1925
H 8.27 in. W 5.12 in. D 5.12 in.
Suite of Four Belt Buckles, circa 1920
By Jean Dunand
Located in Paris, FR
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  • Suite of Four Belt Buckles, circa 1920
  • Suite of Four Belt Buckles, circa 1920
  • Suite of Four Belt Buckles, circa 1920
  • Suite of Four Belt Buckles, circa 1920
H 20.48 in. W 17.33 in. D 1.19 in.
Large Bowl, circa 1925
By Jean Dunand
Located in Paris, FR
Large round bowl in black lacquer with small round feet. Signed on the reverse and numbered 7922.
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1920s French Art Deco Vintage Jean Dunand Furniture

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Lacquer

  • Large Bowl, circa 1925
  • Large Bowl, circa 1925
  • Large Bowl, circa 1925
  • Large Bowl, circa 1925
H 3.15 in. W 15.75 in. D 15.75 in.
Large Circular Plate, circa 1920
By Jean Dunand
Located in Paris, FR
In copperware patinated with a geometrical oxidized pattern. Signed. Origin Hélène Bukanowski's collection ; transmitted by heredity to the previous owner.
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1920s French Art Deco Vintage Jean Dunand Furniture

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Copper

  • Large Circular Plate, circa 1920
  • Large Circular Plate, circa 1920
  • Large Circular Plate, circa 1920
  • Large Circular Plate, circa 1920
H 13.39 in. W 13.39 in. D 13.39 in.
Ovoid Vase
By Jean Dunand
Located in Paris, FR
Vase in copperware and lacquer with black and gold triangles and lines on a metal background. Stamped Jean Dunand, artist's stamp JD on the underside.
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1920s European Art Deco Vintage Jean Dunand Furniture

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Metal

  • Ovoid Vase
  • Ovoid Vase
  • Ovoid Vase
  • Ovoid Vase
H 8.7 in. W 2.36 in. D 2.36 in.
Bronze Vase by Jean Dunand, 1920s
By Jean Dunand
Located in Paris, FR
Exceptional bronze vase by Jean Dunand. Green patina. Signed Jean Dunand below the base, 1920s.
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1920s French Art Deco Vintage Jean Dunand Furniture

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Bronze

  • Bronze Vase by Jean Dunand, 1920s
  • Bronze Vase by Jean Dunand, 1920s
  • Bronze Vase by Jean Dunand, 1920s
  • Bronze Vase by Jean Dunand, 1920s
H 10.63 in. Dm 6.3 in.
Art Deco Car Mascot "Les Trois Fleches" Jean Dunand, France, 1925
By Jean Dunand
Located in Buenos Aires, Olivos
Art Deco Car Mascot - Hood ornament by Jean Dunand (1877- 1942) certainly one of few he made, exhibited during the "Salon des Arts Décoratif" of...
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1920s French Art Deco Vintage Jean Dunand Furniture

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Bronze

1920s Art Deco Copperware Bowl by Jean Dunand
By Jean Dunand
Located in Paris, FR
Hammered copperware metal with a sectional geometric decor and a centre square. Silver and oxidized brown patina. Signed Jean Dunand on the back.
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1920s French Art Deco Vintage Jean Dunand Furniture

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Copper

Custom Art Deco Sideboard in Open Grain Oak by Jean Dunand
By Jean Dunand
Located in New York, NY
Exceptionally rare custom French Art Deco sideboard in open grain oak by Jean Dunand. Two lock-and-key doors open to reveal shelving as well as a single-pull drawer. Very solid const...
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1940s Swiss Art Deco Vintage Jean Dunand Furniture

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Oak

1920s Art Deco Copperware Bowl Signed Jean Dunand
By Jean Dunand
Located in Paris, FR
Flat copperware bowl decorated with interlaced silver patina pattern on brown background. Signed Jean Dunand on the back.
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1920s French Art Deco Vintage Jean Dunand Furniture

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Copper

Jean Dunand furniture for sale on 1stDibs

Jean Dunand's furniture is available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive objects are often made of Shell, and are designed with extraordinary care. In our collection of Jean Dunand furniture there are many options to choose from, although black editions of this piece are particularly popular. We have 2 vintage editions of these items in stock, while there is also a modern edition to choose from. Many original furniture by Jean Dunand were created in Europe during the 20th century in the Art Deco style. Many customers also consider furniture by René Buthaud, Jean-Leon Mayodon and Claire Jeanne Roberte Colinet if you’re looking for additional options. Jean Dunand furniture prices can vary depending on size, time period and other attributes. 1stDibs's price starts at US$2,809 and tops out at US$35,000, while pieces like these can sell for US$18,905.

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