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Les Baigneuses [The Bathers]
Cabinet
1900 (made)
1900 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This cabinet was one of the pieces of furniture exhibited by Louis Majorelle at the Paris International Exhibition in 1900. It helped to establish his reputation as a leading designer and maker of furniture in the fashionable Art Nouveau style. Advocates of this new style looked to nature as the primary source of inspiration in design.
The form of the cabinet, which is not directly based on any historical precedent, shows Majorelle’s inventiveness. The marquetry of human figures, trees and flowers demonstrates his enthusiasm for the natural world. Majorelle used marquetry to create large-scale pictorial panels, very different from the small-scale, formal patterns used by many cabinetmakers working in more traditional historical styles.
The form of the cabinet, which is not directly based on any historical precedent, shows Majorelle’s inventiveness. The marquetry of human figures, trees and flowers demonstrates his enthusiasm for the natural world. Majorelle used marquetry to create large-scale pictorial panels, very different from the small-scale, formal patterns used by many cabinetmakers working in more traditional historical styles.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 4 parts.
|
| Title | Les Baigneuses [The Bathers] (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Carcase of mahogany and oak, veneered with kingwood and amboyna and with marquetry of pearwood, amboyna, sycamore and other woods |
| Brief description | Two-tiered cabinet, mahogany and oak, with marquetry of, amboyna, sycamore and other woods on a carcase of oak |
| Physical description | Cabinet with two cupboards set one above the other, separated by an open, shelf section and surmounted by an enclosed shelf or alcove at cresting level. The frame is carved with fronds and leaves of water-lily and the two front panels show marquetry panels of women bathers amongst trees on the edge of a pond on the upper panel, and of water-lilies on the lower panel. The back of each shelf section is lined with pleated silk. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | L. Majorelle, Nancy (Inscribed on one of the marquetry panels) |
| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Given by Sir George Donaldson |
| Object history | Exhibited at the International Exhibition in Paris in 1900 and bought for the V&A by Sir George Donaldson |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This cabinet was one of the pieces of furniture exhibited by Louis Majorelle at the Paris International Exhibition in 1900. It helped to establish his reputation as a leading designer and maker of furniture in the fashionable Art Nouveau style. Advocates of this new style looked to nature as the primary source of inspiration in design. The form of the cabinet, which is not directly based on any historical precedent, shows Majorelle’s inventiveness. The marquetry of human figures, trees and flowers demonstrates his enthusiasm for the natural world. Majorelle used marquetry to create large-scale pictorial panels, very different from the small-scale, formal patterns used by many cabinetmakers working in more traditional historical styles. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 1998:1, 2-1900 |
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| Record created | June 26, 2001 |
| Record URL |
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