2. Contents
Introduction
Definition
History
Design Aspect
Features
Furniture Style and Characteristics
Popular Objects of that era
Case studies
Marquetry
Waterfall Furniture
Sun Bed
Lamps
3. Introduction
DEFINITION: Art Deco, also called style modern,
movement in decorative arts and architecture that
originated in the 1920s and developed into a major style
in western Europe and the United States during the
1930s.
Origin: Its name was derived from the Exposition
Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels
Modernes, held in Paris in 1925, where the style was
first exhibited. Art Deco design represented modernism
turned into fashion.
Design Aspect: Its products included both
individually crafted luxury items and mass-produced
wares, but, in either case, the intention was to create a
sleek and anti-traditional elegance that symbolized
wealth and sophistication.
4. Introduction
Feathers:
Distinguishing features of the style are simple, clean
shapes, often with a “streamlined” look ornament that is
geometric or stylized from representational forms and
unusually varied, often expensive materials which
frequently include man-made substances (plastics,
especially Bakelite; vita-glass, wood mostly and
ferroconcrete) in addition to natural ones
(jade, silver, ivory, obsidian, chrome, and rock crystal).
Art Deco objects were rarely mass-produced, the
characteristic features of the style reflected admiration
for the modernity of the machine and for
the inherent design qualities of machine made.
5. Furniture Style and Characteristics:
Art Deco as a decorative style is defined by
geometric patterns, naturalistic motifs, bold colors,
and sinuous outlines that are also well reflected in
furniture design trends of the period.
High-end modern Art Deco furniture was
meticulously crafted into refined forms, using ebony
and exotic woods manufactured with traditional
methods like veneering and marquetry.
Art Deco furniture was always polished, and
Japanese lacquer was often used to achieve a shiny
finish. Besides peculiar wood, expensive materials
like ivory, wrought iron, and glass were also
gracefully used by designers of the era.
6. Popular Objects of that Era
ROBIN AND
MAYES FAN
American Progress
Sun Bed Victoire
Lacquered Cabinet
Stretching Lady
Lamp
7. Case studies
Marquetry
Marquetry refers to the technique of forming
geometric bandings and intricate designs out of
different kinds of wood such as boxwood, satinwood,
ebony, or ivory.
Traditional, natural marquetry patterns are prominent
features of pieces of furniture of the era.
The veneers used are primarily woods,
Marquetry as a modern craft most commonly uses
knife-cut veneers
Panels of elaborately scrolling "seaweed" marquetry
of box or holly contrasting with walnut appeared on
table tops, cabinets, and long-case clocks
8. Waterfall Furniture
Distinguishing features of waterfall furniture are the
rounded drops at the edges of all horizontal surfaces,
created to mimic a flowing waterfall.
It was widely popular in the late 1930s and early 1940s
when waterfall furniture was produced primarily for the
mass market and often in poor quality.
This pair of late 1930s walnut burl nightstands is a
delightful exception.
Pieces in this style were usually finished with a
blond veneer, though a small percentage were finished in
a darker walnut finish.
Handles were typically of orange Bakelite and brass.
The furniture was made with plywood.
Case studies
9. Case Studies
Sun Bed
1930 Jane Renouardt, a celebrated French stage
actress, commissioned this bed from Émile-
Jacques Ruhlmann, known as the Sun Bed.
It is made of white oak and veneered in a highly
polished Macassar ebony.
Ruhlmann’s craftsmanship is evident in the
dramatic pattern of the headboard. Ruhlmann’s
records note that one of his craftsmen worked 252
1/2 hours to make this bed.
The dimensions of this bed are 77” × 38 ½” × 85
¾”.
Its location by now is Lewis Decorative Arts
Galleries, Ingersheim, Germany
10. Case studies
Lamps
Light fixtures in the 1920s and 1930s were
dramatic, elegant and futuristic looking.
Traditionally made from steel, chrome or polished
bronze.
Glass or porcelain was used to fashion lamp
shades
Symmetrical and repeating angular designs like
zig-zag and chevrons were frequently engraved in
metal lamp posts and glass shades.
The glass would have been painted in bold colors
like ruby red or sapphire blue. Bright colors were
very trendy during the Art Deco movement.
