JEAN ROYÈRE | "SPHÈRE" COFFEE TABLE

Private Collection, France

Galerie Jacques Lacoste, Paris

Acquired from the above by the present owner, 2011

Ensembles Mobiliers, vol. 12, 1952, pl. 21

Jean Royère, “La folie des prix français,” Le Décor d’Aujourd’hui, January 1953, p. 233

“Jean Royère,” Le Décor d’Aujourd’hui, February 1955, p. 55

René Chavance, “La Cheminée: en ce mi-vingtième siècle, symbolique, pratique et économique,” Mobilier et Décoration, October 1956, p. 48

Pierre Kjellberg, Le Mobilier du XX^eme Siècle, Paris, 1994, p. 560

Jean Royère: décorateur à Paris, exh. cat., Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, 1999, pp. 40, 123 and 163

Pierre-Emmanuel Martin-Vivier, Jean Royère, Paris, 2002, pp. 233 and 238

Galerie Jacques Lacoste and Galerie Patrick Seguin, eds., Jean Royère: Volume 1, Paris, 2012, pp. 78 and 160

Galerie Jacques Lacoste and Galerie Patrick Seguin, eds., Jean Royère: Volume 2, Paris, 2012, pp. 60 and 174-175 (for a design drawing of the model)

One of Jean Royère’s most iconic motifs from the 1950s, the “Sphère” coffee table draws its stylistic inspiration from 16th century armillary spheres. Royère simplified the complex arrangement of astronomical and geometric elements to create three highly stylized spheres on top of which rests a circular limestone top. The superposition of spherical forms and harmonious proportions contributed to the success of this model, now greatly valued amongst mid-century design collectors. Another example of the “Sphère” coffee table with a black opaline glass surface was executed for one of the designer’s few public commissions, the Legation of France in Helsinki in 1950. The “Sphère” motif was used by Royère for the design of an equally successful table and floor lamp model, as well as for a coffee table iteration with a rectangular top.