Cabinet in Ash and Mahogany by Joseph André Motte, Group 4, Charon, 1954

Oak buffet with 2 Doors and 3 Drawers by René Gabriel, 1940s René Gabriel (1899 - 1950) is a precursor of French industrial design. He was one of the first to create, as early as the 1930s, economical mass-produced furniture combining aestheticism, robustness and sobriety, a source of inspiration for a whole generation of future designers. A student at the Germain Pilon School and then at the National School of Decorative Arts, René Gabriel began as a domino maker by designing and producing his own wallpapers, and then made his mark as a decorative artist in most of the salons and international exhibitions of the inter-war period. In 1927, he began his research into the creation of mass-produced furniture and proposed a piece of furniture composed of juxtaposable and superposable elements. He studied an economical version that he presented in 1934 at the Salon des arts ménagers under the name of RG elements. Another major turning point came in 1944, when the Ministry of Reconstruction and Urban Planning commissioned him to create emergency furniture. A fervent advocate of furniture for all, René Gabriel designed numerous models for disaster victims by establishing close ties with industry. He also collaborated with Auguste Perret...

Two-drawer shelf by Marcel Gascoin, ARHEC, 1947 Two-drawer Shelf created by Marcel Gascoin edited by ARHEC in 1947. This shelf is made from Oak wood. Presented in the UAM pavilion during the 1937 International Exhibition, the wall shelves on racks were used extensively by Marcel Gascoin. Playing on their freedom of arrangement, he invented modular storage walls where single, double or drawer shelves could be placed, as well as glass elements or a wall desk. The combination on racks allows for height adjustment; it gives the possibility (before consumer loans were commonplace) to equip themselves with successive purchases. (extract from "Marcel Gascoin, design utile" 2011) Marcel Gascoin was born in Le Havre, in the Perrey district, on 27 August 1907. Born into a family of sailors - his father was the head of a workshop in a practical school, in the carpentry section - he followed in his father's footsteps and became a carpenter and cabinetmaker by attending the applied arts section at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Le Havre, and then the Ecole nationale supérieure des Arts décoratifs in Paris. There he met Henri Sauvage, who encouraged him to focus on modern furniture. From then on, as he put it, he would adapt the container to the content. Recommended by Robert Mallet-Stevens in 1930, he participated in the exhibition of the Union des artistes modernes. Four years later, he participated in a competition to design a boat cabin, which led to his meeting with Jean Prouvé, with whom he would work. From 1938 onwards, he took part in the Salon des Arts Ménagers and created a line of storage units with a particular design, which the war was to bring to a standstill in France, but which found an echo in Scandinavian countries. In the aftermath of the war, his links with Raoul Dautry and Claudius Petit, the ministers in charge of reconstruction, enabled him to play an important role in the production of space-saving furniture, adapting techniques tried and tested in boat cabins to save even more space and in social production. In 1947, he became curator of the International Exhibition of Urbanism and Housing. He coordinated the development of model flats (Sotteville-Lès-Rouen) and met the architect, Marcel Lods...

Inclined Shelf in Oak by René Jean Caillette, 1950 Light oak, sloping design and very good state of preservation. René-Jean Caillette (1919 - 2005) studied at the Ecole Supérieure ...

Magnificent and charming split pencil bamboo sideboard from the 1950s by Adrien Audoux and Frida Minet. "Adrien Audoux and Frida Minnet were a French duo who worked together in the m...

Walnut cabinet with sliding doors, removable shelves and metal legs by Maison Leleu. Signed: Leleu Paris. The house of Leleu rose to prominence in the 1920s during the Art Déco per...

A mahogany and brass cabinet designed by Edward Wormley and produced by Dunbar, Berne, Indiana, USA, c. 1950s.

Marcel Gascoin, storage cabinet in teak, Edition Alvéole, circa 1950.

N.O. Møller (1920–1982) Design. A sophisticated cabinet crafted from teak, featuring shelves and drawers in light maple behind its doors. This piece was produced by J.L. Møller's fa...