Louis Majorelle (1859–1926), Nancy – Art Nouveau Sideboard, circa 1898

A rare and exceptional marquetry sideboard by Louis Majorelle, created in Nancy around 1898 and signed "L. Majorelle, Nancy" at the base of the right-hand door. This outstanding piece represents the height of the cabinetmaker's production and ranks among the most celebrated creations of the École de Nancy.

This monumental sideboard is conceived as a four-tier composition, resting on a slightly projecting, curved base supporting a lower cabinet fitted with two doors and two drawers. Above are an open compartment, a glazed display cabinet with an inclined fall-front door, and a final open shelf surmounted by a gently arched cornice. The side supports, pierced with stylised creeping snail motifs and enhanced by projecting spiral-fluted columns, exemplify the organic vocabulary characteristic of the Art Nouveau movement.

Crafted in maple, the cabinet is richly veneered with rosewood, oak, walnut burr, and a variety of precious woods. The façade is decorated with exquisite marquetry depicting horse chestnut branches, while the two lower doors feature a spectacular composition of eleven geese in a luxuriant landscape. The backs of the open compartments are inlaid with rows of stylised ginkgo leaves. The drawer pulls and fittings are executed in bronze, each formed as goose heads holding a serpent in their beaks.

The decorative programme—combining geese, serpents, horse chestnut branches, and ginkgo leaves—reflects the iconography traditionally associated with the dining room and the art of the table. As noted by several scholars, these motifs formed part of a larger dining-room suite created by Majorelle and were also illustrated in the furnishings of his own house in Nancy.

Dimensions: 241.5 × 160.5 × 55 cm.

Bibliography

• Heuser, Miscellanea 3, Hamburg, 1970.

• Jugendstil, exh. cat., Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe, 1978 (revised edition, 1987, ill. 11, p. 235, no. 11).

• Alastair Duncan, Louis Majorelle, Munich, 1991, pl. 27, pp. 36–37.

• Klaus-Jürgen Sembach (ed.), Der Moderne Stil – The Modern Style 1899–1905, Stuttgart, 2006, p. 26, ill. 3.

Exhibition

• Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe Palace, Germany, Jugendstil, 1978.

A major work by Louis Majorelle, this sideboard stands among the finest achievements of French Art Nouveau furniture. Its remarkable craftsmanship, richly symbolic marquetry, and extensive published documentation make it an outstanding example for discerning collectors and museum collections alike.