Pair of "Gonse" armchairs, model no. 278 NR, ca. 1930-1932. Lacquered wood, fabric. Each: 29 × 42 × 45 1/4 in. (73.7 × 106.7 × 114.9 cm.). Underside of one frame branded with "Ruhlmann" (2).

PROVENANCE Private collection, Paris, ca. 1930; Private collection, Paris, 1980s; DeLorenzo Gallery, New York, 1988; Private Midwest collection
LITERATURE Leon Moussinac, Croquis de Ruhlmann, Paris, 1924, pl. 31 for a design sketch; Curtis Moffat, "Furniture and Hangings," The Studio Year Book, Decorative Art,London, 1931, p. 82; Raymond Foulk, Centenary Exhibition Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, London, 1979, pl. 27 for a similar example; Pierre Kjellberg, Les Maîtres du Mobilier ArtDeco, Paris, 1981, p. 163; Florence Camard, Ruhlmann: Master of Art Deco, New York, 1984, pp. 159, 216 for a design sketch and 261; Philippe Garner, "Chow Wow," House and Garden, May 1988, pp. 168–169; Emmanuel Breon, Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, the Designer's Archives, Furniture, Paris, 2004, pp. 103 and 107 for an archive sketch

In his sketchbook dated 1915, Ruhlmann explored the concept of a low lounge chair whose arms sweep down in a continuous curve to form the rear legs, as in the present model. Only three examples of the "Gonse" armchair produced in black lacquer are known to exist, including the present pair as well as a single example sold at Christie's New York on June 1, 2004.