Michel Dufet dining room, ca.1930.

Dining room MICHEL DUFET (France, 1888-1985), ca. 1930
Table and eight chairs.
Walnut root and "Monnaie du pape" floral marquetry.
Measurements: 75 x 130 x 130 cm (175 cm with extension; table); 65 x 45 x 65 x 65 cm (chairs).

Art Deco dining set, designed by Michel Dufet around 1930. It constitutes an outstanding example of high-end French furniture of the interwar period. The set consists of a round extendable table and eight matching chairs, made of superb quality walnut, with refined and balanced joinery work.

The table, of generous proportions, has a circular tabletop supported by a central architectural foot, with refined lines and solid presence, designed to combine stability, elegance and functionality. It incorporates an extension, which allows the furniture to be adapted to different uses without altering the harmony of the design.

The chairs, with openwork backrest and stylized silhouette, stand out for their carefully designed floral marquetry with "monnaie du pape" motifs, delicately integrated into the backrest. This plant motif, recurrent in Dufet's work, provides a poetic and decorative counterpoint to the geometric rigor of Art Deco, without falling into ornamental excess.

The use of walnut, with its rich grain and warm tonality, reinforces the sense of discreet and timeless luxury that characterizes Michel Dufet's production, placing this dining room among the most elegant creations in his repertoire.

Michel Dufet was a key figure in Art Deco design and architecture in France. Trained as an architect, he developed a multifaceted career that encompassed furniture, interior architecture, object design and decoration. He was one of the protagonists of the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris in 1925, an event that gave its name to the Art Deco movement.

Throughout his long and distinguished career as a designer, Dufet participated in several exhibitions, starting with the Salon des Artistes Français in 1914. In 1937, he exhibited at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne in Paris with designer René Gabriel and designed the French Pavilion for the 1939 World's Fair in New York.