Jean Royère ‘Val D’or’ Coffee Table
View Similar Items
Jean Royère ‘Val D’or’ Coffee Table
About the Item
- Creator:Jean Royère (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 12.6 in (32 cm)Diameter: 32.68 in (83 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1962
- Condition:Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use. The table has been repainted from the original red to black.
- Seller Location:Kingston, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU6317227712412
Jean Royère
World traveler, polyglot and avant-garde visionary Jean Royère (1902–81) is one of the biggest names in French mid-century design. He was fascinated by different materials, such as raffia and zebrawood, and aesthetics from around the world, from Scandinavian modernism to the traditions of the Middle East. Owing to this venturesome spirit, Royère produced an eclectic body of work that truly doesn’t fit a singular style. One light fixture might have organic shapes reminiscent of Art Nouveau, while a table would be crafted with minimalist straw marquetry.
Born in Paris, Royère studied classics at Cambridge University and then worked for an import-export company. In 1931, he switched gears to design, studying cabinetmaking in the workshops of Faubourg Saint-Antoine and furniture making under the tutelage of Pierre Gouffé. He made his debut in interior design in 1934 when he won a design contest for the brasserie in the Hotel Carlton on the Champs-Élysées.
Royère’s most famous piece of furniture was his biomorphic Boule sofa, sometimes playfully called the Ours Polaire, or Polar Bear. Designed for his mother in 1947, the curved sofa with its fuzzy white velvet shocked the French interior design world when it was displayed at the Art et Industrie exhibition, but it proved enduringly popular with customers, such as the Shah of Iran, who purchased several for his daughter. Royère would continue to design furniture and interiors for an elite clientele, including the kings of Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Royère retired in 1972, then moved to the United States in 1980. After he died a year later, his archives were given to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. His works continue to be highly coveted — Kanye West, for instance, once tweeted that the Polar Bear sofa is his favorite piece of furniture. In 2016, Galerie Patrick Seguin in Paris opened a retrospective of his distinctive designs, from the plush 1943 Eléphanteau chair to the 1963 Tour Eiffel table with its elegant metal supports.
Find vintage Jean Royère tables, storage cabinets and other furniture today on 1stDibs.
- Jean Royere Coffee TableBy Jean RoyèreLocated in Philadelphia, PAFrench Modernist Art Deco coffee table by Jean Royere, 1937, in black rosewood and satinwood, made by Goufe. Documented. 47" long x 17" deep x 20" high. Wo...Category
Vintage 1930s French Art Deco Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsRosewood, Satinwood
$62,500 - La Voie d'or (coffee table)Located in PARIS, FRIn China, bamboo has always been the artists, poets and philosophers’ favourite subject. In recent years, it has become one of the motifs of Xiao Fan Ru's paintings and sculptures. I...Category
2010s French Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBronze
$43,643 - Wrought Iron and Comblanchien Limestone "Ruban" Coffee Table by Jean RoyèreBy Jean RoyèreLocated in New York City, NYImpressive, refined "Ruban" coffee table by Jean Roye`re. The wrought iron and brass frame is quintessentially modern, an impressive feat given the table was designed in 1949. ...Category
Vintage 1940s French Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsLimestone, Brass, Wrought Iron
- Attila Coffee or Low Centre Table by Jean-Michel WilmotteBy Jean-Michel WilmotteLocated in Los Angeles, CAAttila table by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Interesting proportions. Tall coffee table or low centre table. Referenced and documented.Category
Vintage 1980s French Post-Modern Center Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Attila Coffee or Low Centre Table by Jean-Michel WilmotteBy Jean-Michel WilmotteLocated in Los Angeles, CAAttila table by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Interesting proportions. Tall coffee table or low centre table. Referenced and documented.Category
Vintage 1980s French Post-Modern Center Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Dark Jean Coffee TableBy DurameLocated in Milan, ITPart of the Jean collection of asymmetrical and stackable tables that pay tribute to Hans Arp's abstract art, this coffee table has a dynamic silhouette enhanced by irregular lines w...Category
2010s Italian Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBrass
$4,475 / item