RENE-JEAN CAILLETTE, SET 4 CHAISES PRIMEVERE, 1982

René-Jean Caillette (1919-2004)
Set of 4 Primevère chairs
Collomb / VIA edition, France, design 1967, prod. 1982
Red lacquered metal, plywood and black laminate
Height 75 x Width 48 x Depth 43 cm

Reference:
Galerie VIA, Paris March 22 - April 13 : 1991
Musée d'art moderne et contemporain de Saint-Étienne, 1998

Literature:
-Archives René-Jean Caillette, Paris
-René Jean Caillette, 40 années de mobilier Galerie VIA – 22 mars – 13 avril 1991, p.9
-Design : collection du Musée d’art moderne de Saint-Etienne Métropole, Cité du design éd., 2008, p.507

Condition report:
good original condition, lacquered metal and laminated with some scratches and lacks

Biography:

Son of a woodworker, Caillette always intended to follow in his father’s footsteps, but not in exactly the same way. For him, the beauty of furniture came from functionality and simplicity of line.

George Charron, a French furniture manufacturer, discovered Caillette’s work in 1950. This led to the creation of Group 4, a collaboration among Caillette, Alain Richard, Genevieve Dangles and Joseph André Motte. Caillette went on to design for Charron until 1972.

Caillette received the René Gabriel prize in 1952 and the silver medal at the Milan Triennale in 1962. The Diamond Chair, designed in 1958 and editioned by Steiner, remains one of the most signature chairs of this period. “It is,” he said, “the most pure and the most easy to fabricate of my models in molded plywood. I designed it with a piece of cardboard, telling myself that if the cardboard could fold, then so could wood.” (From Favardin, Patrick, Les Décorateurs des Années 50, 2002.)

“Caillette is one of the better chair designers of the period and his furniture attests to much ingenuity.”