Dressing Table
Antiquity provides the inspiration for this dressing table by Armand-Albert Rateau, who borrowed both its form and decoration from Pompeiian models, although the bird motif may also derive from Persian miniature painting. Rateau first conceived the model for a sumptuous bathroom he designed in 1921 for the duchess of Alba at the Palacio Liria in Madrid (now destroyed). He later included a version as part of his décor for the Pavilion de l'Élégance at the 1925 Paris Exposition, which housed displays of the couturiers Jeanne Lanvin, Jenny, Callot Soeurs, Worth, and the jeweler Cartier. The Metropolitan purchased the table directly from Rateau.
Artwork Details
- Title: Dressing Table
- Designer: Armand-Albert Rateau (French, Paris 1882–1938 Paris)
- Date: ca. 1925
- Medium: Bronze, basalt, mirror glass
- Dimensions: 55 3/16 × 15 3/4 × 31 1/2 in. (140.2 × 40 × 80 cm)
- Classification: Furniture-Wood
- Credit Line: Purchase, Edward C. Moore Jr. Gift, 1925
- Object Number: 25.169
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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