Joan Busquets

JOAN BUSQUETS I JANÉ (Barcelona, 1874-1949)
Entrance hall bench with shelf and top panel. Modernist, ca. 1900-1910.
Walnut, mahogany and Hungarian ash, with fruitwood marquetry and mother-of-pearl applications.
Period velvet upholstered sofa.
Signed ceiling and metal plaque from the workshop of Joan Busquets.
With key.
Exhibits wear consistent with age and use and needs refinishing.
Measurements: 210 × 215 × 70 cm.

This bench or sofa is a first level piece within the Catalan modernism and the production of Joan Busquets.

The set is articulated around an upper soffit of marquetry, authentic visual and conceptual axis of the piece, signed by Joan Busquets himself. Executed with a refined work of classic inlay in fruit wood and mother-of-pearl, the soffit develops a medieval and Renaissance-inspired decoration, with stylized floral motifs and Gothic references reinterpreted from the modernist language. Its presence transforms the piece of furniture into a narrative and symbolic piece, beyond its utilitarian function.

From this central element, the foyer bench is organized by means of a monumental architectural structure, conceived with a rigorous sense of symmetry. The upholstered sofa occupies the central axis and is flanked by corner units with curved door cabinets, whose continuous profiles visually link with the waist of the seat. Two plant-inspired columns, topped by circular shelves, and a rectangular mirror complete the composition.

The combination of walnut, mahogany and Hungarian ash, together with the marquetry and mother-of-pearl inlays, is evidence of the very high technical level of the Busquets workshop. From the stylistic point of view, the work fully responds to the modernist conception of furniture as a total work of art, integrating design, decorative arts and function. This hall bench is thus presented as an exceptional piece of Catalan modernist furniture, destined to preside over the bourgeois domestic space and to manifest the social and cultural prestige of its owner.

Works by Busquets can currently be found in the National Art Museum of Catalonia, the Güell Palace in Barcelona, the National Museum of Decorative Arts and the Museum of Catalan Modernism in Barcelona, among others, as well as in various important private collections.