You know the name: you've heard it mentioned constantly and
seen it referenced on the pages of magazines and auction catalogues, but what
do you REALLY know about the fabled Maison Jansen (1880 - 1989)?
Not to be confused with the Danish silversmiths Jensen (as
in Georg Jensen), Maison Jansen was founded by Dutch architect and designer Jean-Henri
Jansen in Paris and was the world's first international interior design studio.
They were the designers du
jour when you needed to redecorate your house in Mayfair, your apartment in
the 7th arrondissement, a house in Palm Beach, or your place in the countryside
on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Headquartered in Paris, Jansen soon had
offices in Buenos Aires, London, Cairo, Alexandria, Havana, New York, Prague,
Sao Paulo, Rome, Milan, and Geneva.
Their clients included The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Coco
Chanel, the Rockefellers, King Leopold II of Belgium, and the Shah of Iran.
And when Jacqueline Kennedy gave her famous televised tour of the White House
in 1962, it was only after she had Jansen redo the private rooms.
Jansen’s designers excelled at fulfilling their client's
visions rather than imposing a style upon them. Part of Jansen's success
was their ability to combine stunningly regal (and real) antiques - which were
sold from a shop they owned and operated - with modern reproductions made in
their own workshops. Today their furniture is known for its quality craftsmanship
and design and is collectable in its own right.
While most people know Jansen for their exquisite French
Louis XV and XVI reproductions, the firm actually worked in a variety of period
styles, which you can appreciate in the images shown here.
image credits (from top to bottom): Architectural Digest (Jackie Kennedy's dressing room at the White House) | Artnet (Center Table, 1940s) | Peak of Chic blog (Mirrored Screen, 1940s) | author (Goelet library at Champ Soleil, Newport, Rhode Island) | PBC Style blog (cantilevered chairs designed by Pierre Cardin for Jansen) | Liz O'Brien (scalloped-back settee)
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Thank you for stopping by and reading my feature today. I
love what I do as an interior designer and art advisor, and it’s my hope that
through these blog posts I’m enriching and heightening your aesthetic
sensibility towards art, design and fabulous interiors in some way ~ Richard
Rabel (a.k.a. the modern sybarite)
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