A treasure at Sotheby’s from the Art Deco collection of Félix Marcilhac. This carved walnut armchair by Paul Iribe c. 1913 fetched $902,000 USD against a $208,000 – $278,000 estimate (March 2014).
Image courtesy of Architectural Digest
Paul Iribe (French, 1883-1935) recently received acclaim as his iconic fauteuil Nautile c. 1913 sold for nearly $1,000,000 USD at auction. His signature design was based upon the nautilus shell and serves as a symbol of French grandeur.
Mr. Iribe was educated in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, 1908-1910. He was an acclaimed fashion illustrator, creating fashion plates for such style icons as Paul Poiret. In 1933 Iribe collaborated with Coco Chanel in the design of extravagant jewelry pieces; he was also engaged and married to her until the time of his passing (just two years later) in 1935.
Notably, he achieved fame as art director for Cecil B. Demille, and is most highly regarded for his work on The Ten Commandments (1923), when he depicted his vision of Egypt as a Hollywood fantasy, all lacquered glamour and opulence.
The arabesque of Iribe’s design is his signature.
Image courtesy of Sotheby’s
Image courtesy of Sotheby’s
We asked master furniture maker Frank Pollaro to craft this pair of museum quality Ruhlmann Era chairs after Paul Iribe’s 1913 design. We selected carved and gilt wood, hair-on-hides on the backs, and python hides on the fronts.
Image courtesy of Suzanne Lovell, Inc.
For more of this project, click here.
Gouache on paper by Paul Iribe for Jean Lanvin c. 1925
Image courtesy of Doyle New York via Live Auctioneers
