Dressing Table

Armand-Albert Rateau

ca. 1925 · Bronze, basalt, mirror glass · Modern and Contemporary Art

Antiquity provides the inspiration for this dressing table by Armand-Albert Rateau, who borrowed both its form and decoration from Pompeiian models, although the bird motif may also derive from Persian miniature painting. Rateau first conceived the model for a sumptuous bathroom he designed in 1921 for the duchess of Alba at the Palacio Liria in Madrid (now destroyed). He later included a version as part of his décor for the Pavilion de l'Élégance at the 1925 Paris Exposition, which housed displays of the couturiers Jeanne Lanvin, Jenny, Callot Soeurs, Worth, and the jeweler Cartier. The Metropolitan purchased the table directly from Rateau.

Artist

Armand-Albert Rateau

Date

ca. 1925

Medium

Bronze, basalt, mirror glass

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Purchase, Edward C. Moore Jr. Gift, 1925