Charlotte Perriand and Jean Prouvé

Charlotte Perriand, 18 rue Las Cases, Paris, 1950-1951

Thence by descent

Christie's Paris, May 25, 2022, lot 3

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Jacques Barsac, Charlotte Perriand. Un art d'habiter, Paris, 2005, pp. 331, 343

Jacques Barsac, Charlotte Perriand. L'oeuvre complète, volume 2, 1940-1955, Paris, 2015, pp. 353, 355, 363

Jacques Barsac, Charlotte Perriand et le Japon, Paris, 2018, p. 198

Formes utiles-objets de notre temps, Salon des Arts Ménagers, Paris, February-March 1952

The present prototype cabinet was the result of Charlotte Perriand’s first large-scale collaboration with Jean Prouvé and was installed in her apartment on rue Las Cases in Paris in 1951. The prior year, Charlotte Perriand had been commissioned to design interiors and furniture for sixty apartments at the Unité d'habitation Air France, in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.

For this residence, Perriand collaborated with Les Ateliers Jean Prouvé to create innovative storage systems built into the concrete wall recesses. While Prouvé contributed his expertise in folded metal and closet systems, Perriand refined the aesthetic, modifying dimensions, materials, colors, and forms to complement the building's primary colors and grid-like façade.

This partnership proved highly successful. Perriand enthusiastically wrote to Prouvé about the Brazza prototype, praising its elimination of constraints, combination of traditional and factory-built elements, rapid installation, luxury finish at modest cost, and adaptability for both tropical and European climates.

Perriand also developed a version of the cabinet available for purchase in France. Differing from the Brazzaville original, this version featured compartments for toiletries, clothes, and long-term storage, plus innovative Plexiglas trays on sliding tracks for organizing various items. The Brazza prototype cabinet perfectly exemplifies Perriand’s vision of efficient, elegant living through thoughtful design.