This chair was made by the workshops of Siegfried (Samuel) Bing in Paris. His gallery, called ‘L’Art Nouveau’, was founded in 1895 and gave its name to the movement that transformed design throughout Europe in the following ten years. Art Nouveau was as much inspired by nature as earlier styles had been, but sought to use natural motifs to create wholly new designs, rather than reproducing nature exactly. Hallmarks of the style were sinuous, flowing lines and elongated, formalised plant motifs. The designer of this chair, Léon Albert Jallot, created an exceptionally elegant sweep to the back legs, and its Y-shaped upper part braces the back and the seat rail strongly, so that no stretcher is needed between the legs. The back and seat, designed in a single panel, originally featured the flowing lines of a silk damask designed by Georges de Feuré, but unfortunately this has since been replaced with plainer upholstery.