Joan Busquets i Jané

JOAN BUSQUETS I JANÉ (Barcelona, 1874–1949)
Modernist side table, circa 1900.
With a marble top.
Measurements: 113 x 37 x 37.5 cm
Modernist side table made of wood, with a reddish-veined marble top, adorned with classic marquetry panels featuring stylized, sinuous plant motifs molded in relief—a typically Modernist style. It stands on four tall, slender legs, which visually stylize the design, and features one drawer and one door. Above the tabletop is a panel with a cut-out, sinuous profile and a small, curved shelf.

Joan Busquets i Jané established himself as one of the great cabinetmakers and interior designers of Modernism in Barcelona. This entryway bench design was part of one of his most successful and widespread furniture lines, originally conceived to coordinate with umbrella stands and planters to adorn the entryways of the Catalan upper class. The technique of polychrome pyrography featuring botanical motifs—highly characteristic of Casa Busquets’s production between 1898 and 1900—adds a new pictorial dimension to the piece.