Eileen GRAY (1878-1976)

Safari" armchair with cylindrical base forming a grey painted wood structure. Armrests, seat and tilting back in leather. Unique piece made around 1932. H : 77 / W : 60 / D : 60 cm. Provenance : - Sale of the Eileen Gray collection, Monaco May 1980. - Private collection. History: The model of armchair that we present to you, dated 1932, comes from the personal collection of Eileen Gray within the Villa E-1027 of Roquebrune Cap Martin as well as in its apartment of the Rue Bonaparte of Paris. It belonged to Miss Eileen Gray until the dispersion of its collection organized by Sotheby's Monte Carlo on May 25, 1980. We find our armchair under the lot number 260 before passing within a private collection in Paris. Designed for the coachbuilder Jean-Henri Labourdette and purchased from the Galerie Jean Désert in the early 1920s to match his collection of African art. This model is a variant with the use of a plain leather divided into four parts by a double stitching and not a black and white checkerboard as on the original model. As such, another variant of this model had aluminum posts and not wood. It draws its inspiration from the so-called "safari" armchairs used by English officers during colonial expeditions.