Pair of Industrial Egg Chairs in Aluminum and Leather, France 1970’s

France, 1970’s

A sleek pair of modernist armchairs in welded aluminum with cloutage details, cradling a cognac leather interior. A single fluid curve unites the domed back and fin-like arms which segue into winnowing legs before seamlessly transitioning into a convex base. In the spirit of Jean Prouvé’s modular aluminum prototypes for the Maison Tropicale in Brazzaville, these beautifully rounded armchairs display the innovative rationality that made the project an icon of industrial modernism — but without the colonialist baggage that ultimately destined Prouvé’s African dreams to failure.