Art Deco Desk, Attributed to Maurice Dufrêne

A French Art Deco desk attributed to Maurice Dufrêne. This exceptional desk has the characteristics of his work, including the brass mounts and handles, the use of several woods, including mahogany, oak and rosewood and a fine tulipwood and ebony inlay surround. The desk retains its original tooled brown leather inset top. In the right hand drawer, a carved oak pen tray and lockable compartment. The four quality locks, operated by the same key. To the front of the desk three drawers with brass handles and mounts and to the other side brass handles and mounts for decorative purposes, allowing the desk to face into a room.

Maurice Dufrêne was born in Paris in 1876. He gained a position as a manager and furniture designer at La Maison Moderne of Julius Meier-Grafe, whose showrooms displayed rooms decorated in the Art Nouveau style. From 1903 Dufrêne exhibited regularly at the Salon d’Automne and the Salons of Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. In 1904 he was one of the founding members of the Société des artistes décorateurs, and for thirty years he would exhibit at its Salon. He designed many different types of decorative art including metalwork, ceramics, glass and fabric and also designed complete interiors, but was best known for his furniture.

In 1921 the Galeries Lafayette launched the Maîtrise workshop under Dufrêne’s direction. Dufrêne designed the Maîtrise exhibit of the 1925 International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts. Every element illustrated the Art Deco objective of developing a new style. He produced designs for Christofle, a large firm that manufactured high-quality Art Deco metalwork in the 1920s and 1930s and he remained busy throughout the 1930s.

Dufrêne's furniture designs show that he appreciated craftsmanship and workshop production. His designs from 1910 onward combine structure and decoration in a harmonious balance. They are austere and neoclassical, reminiscent of the Louis XVI style. Usually his furniture was made of dark mahogany, in some cases with ebonized decoration, but usually did not have carved ornament. His style became simpler and more angular in the 1930s.

Dufrêne died in Nogent-sur-Marne in 1955.

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