Sideboard by Michel Dufet. Art Deco, ca.1930.

Sideboard by MICHEL DUFET (France, 1888-1985). Art Deco, ca.1930.
Walnut root wood, floral marquetry of the Monnaies du Pape.
Marble top.
Interior of cabinet has two drawers and one adjustable shelf.
Bibliography: Art Deco by Alastair Duncan, page 372.
Measurements: 104 x 195 x 54 cm.

This elegant Art Deco sideboard is a representative work of interwar French refinement. It is made of walnut root, whose deep and wavy grain gives it an exceptional visual richness. The curved front is enlivened by delicate floral marquetry, inspired by the motifs of the Monnaies du Pape, a poetic nod to the decorative tradition reinterpreted in the modern language of Art Deco.

The marble top contrasts with the warmth of the wood. The interior is carefully designed for refined domestic use: two drawers and an adjustable shelf, combining functionality and elegance. The whole is raised on four fluted legs, which extend vertically along the back and corners, reinforcing the sense of slenderness and architectural rhythm, so characteristic of the period.

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.