Charlotte PERRIAND (1933-1999)

Partition cabinet with pass-through function, 1952.

Padauk frame, interior partitions in visible okoumé plywood (original), sides and front in painted plywood (restored).

Twelve doors (3 double and 9 single) with double walls in painted okoumé plywood, mounted on hinges, with padauk handles.

Padauk interior fittings consisting of eleven sliding drawers, two sliding slatted racks in two sizes, numerous padauk shelves, two sliding pass-through trays in two sizes covered with light grey Formica.

Two doors of different sizes, with padauk handles, opening on the dining room side, with interior lining in lacquered “Brazza green” diamond-patterned aluminum sheet, mounted on hinges within a thick padauk frame.

Fasteners and all metal parts in corrosion-resistant brass.

The shelf supports and drawer slides are assembled using small brass tabs, designed to reduce wood expansion gaps caused by varying air humidity levels between the dry and rainy seasons.

Height. 220 cm – Width. 223 cm – Depth. 59 cm

Meticulous craftsmanship by André Chetaille, Charlotte Perriand’s cabinetmaker, for the door handles, drawers, and the exterior frame of the pass-through opening.

Manufactured by Ateliers Jean Prouvé for the interior lining of the pass-through doors in diamond-patterned aluminum sheet, lacquered “dark Brazza green”.

Local manufacturing under the direction of a representative of Charlotte Perriand and Ateliers Jean Prouvé – also responsible for the installation of the Brazza Cabinets – for the cabinet frame, interior shelves, and the on-site assembly of various elements.

Provenance:

Air France Housing Unit of Brazzaville. Forty large and medium apartments were equipped with this type of furniture, of which approximately twenty have been recovered.

Conservation:

Restoration of the solid wood parts to original condition after stripping and varnishing. Refurbishment of the exterior plywood panels on the dining room side facade and on the sides, as the furniture was originally built into the masonry of the dividing wall between the kitchen and the dining room.

Current adaptation allowing this furniture piece, with its significant weight and dimensions, to be disassembled into three parts. Light grey paint identically redone. Original “dark Brazza green” paint on the diamond-patterned aluminum sheets covering the inner face of the two pass-through doors.

Bibliography
– Charlotte Perriand Archives, detailed plan no. 50.128 of November 15, 1951 for the Air France Housing Unit of Brazzaville.
– Mary McLeod, “Charlotte Perriand – An Art of Living”, New York, 2003, pp. 224-225, model reproduced.
– J. Barsac, “Charlotte Perriand, un art d’habiter”, Ed. Norma, Paris, 2005, p.332, model reproduced.