5th Aug, 2026 11:00

Design & Contemporary
 
Lot 42
 
Lot 42 - Jean-Michel Frank (French 1895-1941) for COMTE
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Jean-Michel Frank (French 1895-1941) for COMTE
Pair of 'Confortable' armchairs

Circa 1938
White leather, hessian
73cm high x 81cm wide x 72cm deep

Literature
Page 266, Jean-Michel Frank- Une Aventure Sud-americaine by Mo Amelia Teitelbaum. Editions AAM. Paris. 2025.

Provenance:
The collection of Mo Amelia Teitelbaum
Mo is a collector, researcher and author who specialises in the period that Jean-Michel Frank spent in the South Americas. She has dedicated much of her life to researching this once forgotten and underappreciated time in Frank's period of creativity. It was in Argentina that his friendship with the Chillian patron, collector and muse Eugenia Errazuriz deepened and he met Ignacio Pirovano, the man he would go on to found COMTE with.
Mo has penned two fascinating books on this period of Frank's life; The Stylemakers, Minimalism and Classic Modernism 1915-1945 and Jean-Michel Frank, Une Aventure Sud-Américaine. Both much lauded by Jean-Michel Frank collectors and enthusiasts of this period of Design and Modernism.
Chiswick Auctions would like to thank the Mo for allowing us to present the current work to auction, we feel privileged to have the opportunity to offer such a rare and important piece of Jean-Michel Frank's design history.
Notes:

This model of Jean-Michel Frank’s “Confortable” armchair was made by COMTE for the Casares – one of the most prominent and stylish families of Argentina. They were the owners of a leading brand of dairy products until 1960. Their country estate “Huetel”, 320 kilometres from Buenos Aires, conceived by the French architect Jacques Dunant in the mid 17th century style, was immensely impressive. A descendant,, Silvia Casares de Peňa, was a close friend of Lia Elena, wife of Ignacio Pirovano, the friend of Frank and founder of COMTE, who hosted Frank daily during the 6 months he spent in Buenos Aires in 1940.

These armchairs were stripped to reveal intact their original structure, then reupholstered, in 2014, in the same white leather as Frank’s own armchairs in his Paris apartment.

Sold for £13,860

Includes Buyer's Premium


 

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