Large bowl

Maison Desny

ca. 1927–1933 · Silver · Modern and Contemporary Art

With a very distinct avant-garde style, the two friends Desnet and René Nauny created interiors for the Parisian elite under the name Maison Desny between the years 1927–33 in Paris. Prominent artists and designers such as Andre Masson, Alberto and Diego Giacometti, and Madame Djo-Bourgeois, were often contracted to collaborate on larger projects. However, today it is for their metalware objects that the firm is most celebrated. This large bowl is fitted in a rigorously modern base. The flat semi-circle that fits within the five supports are representative of the geometric configurations, architectural elements, and perpendicular shapes and planes that set Maison Desny’s pieces apart from other modernist designs of the interwar period. The partnership was cut short in 1933 when Mr. Desnet died. Their firm closed shortly thereafter. Nauny continued his design practice as a jewelry designer under the name Hippocampe.

Artist

Maison Desny

Date

ca. 1927–1933

Medium

Silver

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Gift of Jacqueline Loewe Fowler, 2020