SOLD
Tongue Chair Nr. 577 by Pierre Paulin for Artifort in Jack Lenor Larsen Fabric. Date of manufecture 1967. The chair offered is still in very good original condition as the fabric shows only minor signs of wear.
 
Dimensions: height 25.2 in. (64 cm), width 33.47 in. (85 cm), depth 35.44 inches (90 cm).
 
Together with designers like Verner Panton and Joe Colombo, Paulin managed to capture the spirit of the era in his highly sculptural designs. The (Nr. 582) Ribbon Chair and (Nr. 577) Tongue Chair are perhaps most emblematic for his work and the changing attitudes towards living environments in the 1960’s. As opposed to the Ribbon Chair, the Tongue Chair was available in Jack Lenor Larsen fabric only for a short time. So very few copies of this model with this striking expressionist, psychedelic upholstery pattern have survived. The chair offered is still in very good original condition as the fabric shows only minor signs of wear.
 
Pierre Paulin (1927-2009) was initially trained as a ceramist and sculptor. But by enrolling in the Camondo School of Applied Arts in his native Paris, Paulin embarked on a remarkable career as a furniture designer. At this prestigious institution Paulin’s talents were soon noticed by two prominent teachers: Maxime Old and Marcel Gascoin. Especially through Gascoin, for whom he also worked for a while, Paulin got in touch with many leading people in the French design scene of the early 1950s. Paulin’s breakthrough came in 1953 when he presented his designs for Meubles TV and the French branch of Thonet. International attention came from Holland in particular, as the Dutch entrepreneur Abraham Polak acquired a license for one of Paulin’s chairs. Only few years later, in 1957 Paulin teamed up with Artifort, another Dutch company. The collaboration between Artifort and Paulin turned out to be long lasting and very fruitful. During the 1960s and 1970s Paulin designed a large number of models, many of them became (instant) classics. In 1972 Paulin was invited to furnish the private apartments of French president Pompidou. Over the years Paulin received many awards and his works are included in all major (design) museum collections.
 
Literature:
- E. Verdenne and A-M. Fevre, Pierre Paulin (Paris 2001), p. 88
- Exhibition Catalogue Pierre Paulin: Le Design au Pouvoir (Galerie des Gobelins, Paris 2008), p. 11, 13.
- Ch. and P. Fiell, 1000 Chairs (Cologne 1997), p. 446
- Exhibition Catalogue Design Since 1945 (Philadelphia Museum of Art 1983-84), p. 132.