Design New York Thursday, June 8, 2023 | Phillips
  • 55 rue de Babylone, located in the center of Paris’ fashionable 7th arrondissement, is perhaps best known as the former address of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé. Before the couple moved in, the apartment belonged to Marie Cuttoli, the august designer widely recognized for reviving the Aubusson tapestry industry in the 1930s and for supporting modern artists such as Fernand Léger, Joan Miró, and Pablo Picasso.

     

    Marie Cuttoli standing in front of a Fernand Léger tapestry, 1926. © Thérèse Bonney/BHVP/The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. 

     

    The present console table originally belonged to Cuttoli and was installed in her rue de Babylone apartment. In 1947, Art Present magazine published a photograph showing this table flanked by two Cubist paintings. Though the designer of the table remains unknown, the sleek glass panes and brass details reflect the modernist sensibilities of avant-garde designers working in France during the 1930s. Michel Guy, former Minister of Culture in France, later acquired the table.

    • Provenance

      Marie Cuttoli, Paris
      Michel Guy, Paris
      Christie's, Paris, "Arts Décoratifs du XXe siècle et Design," November 25, 2013, lot 23
      Private collection, France, acquired from the above
      Christie's, Paris, "Design," November 14, 2018, lot 30
      Acquired from the above by the present owner

    • Literature

      Art Present, Paris, 1947, illustrated p. 41

Property from a Private International Collection

88

Console table

1930s
Glass, brass, painted wood.
25 1/4 x 75 x 18 in. (64.1 x 190.5 x 45.7 cm)

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$25,000 - 35,000 

Contact Specialist

Benjamin Green
Associate Specialist
Associate Head of Sale
bgreen@phillips.com
+1 917 207 9090

Design

New York Auction 8 June 2023