CHAIRS IN A BIARRITZ GARDEN

Material: Wrought iron

Origin: Côte Basque, France, circa 1950

Measurements: 60 cm long x 45 cm wide x 92 cm high

This pair of chairs was part of the outdoor furniture of a villa in Biarritz, a holiday epicenter for European high society since the 19th century, when Napoleon III and Eugénie de Montijo chose it as their summer residence. Made of wrought iron and enamelled white, they retain small rust marks from exposure to humidity and Atlantic salt air. Their forms are the epitome of French aristocratic taste, faithfully adapting the formal solutions of Louis XV-style cabinetmaking to the wrought iron technique: cabriolet legs, curved armrests, crossed lower rails... undulating shapes reminiscent of shells and rockery, which, placed facing the ocean, amplify their meaning and acquire perfect coherence. We avoided restoring the rusted areas so as not to erase the traces of their history; we simply added comfortable cushions upholstered in elegant beige velvet.