EUGÈNE PRINTZ 1889-1948 Important and im

Provenance
Jean-Jacques Dutko, France;
Galerie L'Arc en Seine, Paris, France

Literature
Mobilier et Décoration, Paris, 1938, p. 4;
Guy Bujon and Jean-Jacques Dutko, E. Printz, Paris, 1986, pp. 234 and 235 for a similar desk;
Yvonne Brunhammer and Guillemette Delaporte, Les Styles des Années 30 à 50, Paris, 1987, p. 89 for the offered lot;
Alastair Duncan, Art Deco Funiture, London, 1992, p. 96; Yvonne Brunhammer, Le Mobilier Français 1930-1960, Paris, 1997, p. 96 for a similar desk

"I have a horror of anything mediocre. Build a box if you have to, but a perfectly made one," Eugène Printz once declared (Bujon and Dutko, E. Printz, p. 32). Printz was a perfectionist, supervising all aspects of his furniture production in order to deliver the highest quality possible. Printz also used the most luxurious materials available in his designs, including exotic woods, lacquer and metalwork and surrounded himself with the best craftsmen. He worked in collaboration with such designers as Jean Dunand and, in the case of the present lot, Raymond Subes. This dedication to perfection and quality gained him the reputation of one of the most skilled French ébénistes of the 20th century.

Printz learned the art of cabinetmaking from his father in their family's furniture workshop in Faubourg Saint-Antoine by producing copies of 18th-century furniture. Through this early training he gained the skills and passion to produce his own original designs. His designs balance a respect for tradition with a genuine desire to produce new, interesting and thoroughly modern forms. Printz was also an interior decorator, utilizing his furniture designs in his interior decoration for clients and friends.

This large desk utilizes gilt bronze on its legs, drawer handles and keyholes. Printz often used metalwork in his furniture designs; his passion for exquisite metalwork hearkens back to the work of André-Charles Boulle. This modern take on Louis XIV-era metalwork is typical of Printz's dedication to traditional methods, adapted to modern tastes. He utilized this metalwork to the same purpose as the Louis-era masters; for fortification and protection of precious materials as well as decoration.

The present lot is a superb example of Eugène Printz's work from the 1940s. This is the only extant example of this design executed in kekwood. Other examples of this rare work exist in lacquer and palm wood. This desk's materials, elegant proportion and workmanship are evidence of Printz's dedication to the tradition of Parisian furniture.