Sideboard by Antoine Philippon & Jacqueline Lecoq (Sold)
Versatile sideboard designed by the visionary French designer duo Antoine Philippon & Jacqueline Lecoq in 1958 and produced by Bofinger in Germany. This credenza is an exceptional example of timeless, minimalist design with its white laminated doors, chromed feet and rosewood top and sides. The feet are adjustable to level this piece out on an uneven floor. This sideboard has 3 doors with adjustable shelves inside. This piece can be installed as a floating sideboard as well, without the legs and rosewood support slat underneath. Labeled with a Bofinger maker’s label on the backside. One chip of a few millimeter on the corner of the left hand door has been restored.
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Dimensions:
W: 180 cm
D: 46 cm
H: 85 cm
Weight: approx. 65 kilo
Material: rosewood, white laminate, metal
The son and grandson of a furniture dealer from Paris Antoine Philippon began as a student of the Ecole Boulle. Jacqueline Lecoq attended L‘Ecole nationale superieure des arts decoratifs. While they first met in 1954, they would live and work together till Philippon’s death in 1995.
Their colaborative success was immediate and their early fame got them the entry ticket to many prestigious exhibitions. First, the architect Pierre Vago asked them to design a model apartment in the residential building he had constructed in West Berlin. Many of the era´s greatest architects contributed to this project, including Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalto and Oscar Niemeyer. It was the first step in a long collaboration with Germany that was marked by regular participation in the Cologne and Munich Fairs. The pair was responsible for selecting the work included in the French sections of these shows.
Antoine Philippon and Jacqueline Lecoq reclaimed the values of the UAM (Union des Artistes Modernes) which was established between the two world wars by a small group of subversive Designers. The pair wanted to create functional furniture in great numbers, without making any concessions to aesthetics or function.
Through the 1950s and 60s they presented regularly at the Salon des Art menagers and Salon des artistes decorateurs of which Philippon was president from 1970-72. They participated at the Expositions universelles de Bruxelles in 1958 and Montreal 1967, as well as collaborating on numerous commissions for the Mobilier national. The President desk is among their most well-known pieces. Renowned for stylistic purity, respect for material takes highest priority in their work, as well as the exclusion of any extraneous decoration.
They freuently used laminate in their furniture designs, particularly in the 1950s and 60s. They were known for their minimalist and functionalist approach, often incorporating laminate with other materials like wood and metal Their hanging sideboards for Bofinger showcase this combination of materials and their dedication to creating elegant, qualitative and efficient furniture for the broadest audience possible.
