Mid-Century French Nesting Tables - Maison Baguès for Jansen - Set of Three

Description

A magnificent set of three French mid 20th century gilded brass marble top nesting tables attributed to Maison Baguès for … more A magnificent set of three French mid 20th century gilded brass marble top nesting tables attributed to Maison Baguès for Parisian design firm Maison Jansen.

Finished in luxurious Louis XVI taste, each table graduated in size, having a striking dramatically white veined verde green marble oval shaped top, resting on a triangular shaped patinated gilt metal frame in brilliant bronze dore style finish, adorned in foliate relief trim to apron, floral medallions above tripartite stretcher-joined fluted legs, terminating on tapered feet.

Dimensions: (approx)
Largest: 17.25"H, 24.25"W, 14"D

Since its establishment, circa 1860, Maison Baguès has been an emblem of French elegance and sophistication in luxury interior design, originally the finest lighting, expanding into the finest quality furniture and decorative accessories. Each piece the firm makes is hand-assembled using traditional techniques in order to emphasize the elegant excellence of their detailed artisanal work. Still the epitome of savoir-faire, Maison Baguès’ luxurious pieces are prized for their craftsmanship, beauty and harmony.

The master metalsmith Noël Baguès founded the company as specialists in liturgical bronzes, but by 1880 the company had expanded into the production of bronze light fixtures in response to the development of electrical lighting. Carried on by Noël’s son Eugène and grandsons Victor and Robert, Maison Baguès continued to progress, adding intricately detailed iron lighting collections in the 1920s as well as stair banisters, gates and accessory tables.

Baguès began selling internationally in the interwar period, expanding the company’s operation to New York, Rome and Cairo. Noted for their high-end handcrafted work, such as complex carved sconces and hand-strung crystal chandeliers, Maison Baguès appealed to an elite clientele. While Baguès’ Art Deco crystal lighting fixtures drew the most attention, the company was also known for bespoke metalwork that drew commissions from important interior designers and decorating firms such as Maison Jansen and Raymond Subes. In 1928, eminent bourgeoisie décorateur Armand-Albert Rateau famously used a selection of Maison Baguès accessories to furnish the townhouse interiors of haute couturist Jeanne Lanvin. Beyond Rateau, the atelier was commissioned by many chic interiors icons like Raymond Subes and the legendary decorating firm Maison Jansen. International decoration offices such as Alberto Pinto, Pierre Yves Rochon, and Nina Campbell, who have used them to decorate the Four Seasons George V Paris, The Ritz, The Savoy in London and the Royal Mansour in Marrakech.

Notably, the Maison Jansen collaboration underscores the majority of Maison Baguès’s design on today’s vintage market, where the atelier’s pieces, seldom marked or labeled with the Baguès name, were often advertised as “supplied by Jansen” or “Jansen Style.”

The Maison Baguès remains, for many decorators, a synonym of elegance and a guarantee of excellence as the most beautiful models of any collection. Today, Maison Baguès continues its history of delicate, detailed work and devotes much of its enterprise to preserving the company’s heritage through restoration. Their efforts are worth it. As you will see, Maison Baguès remains the last word in classic French lighting, metalwork and decorative arts.


Maison Jansen was a Paris based interior decoration office founded in 1880 by Jean-Henri Jansen. Jansen is considered the first truly global design firm, serving clients in Europe, Latin America, North America and the Middle East. From its beginnings Maison Jansen combined traditional furnishings with influences of new trends including Anglo-Japanese style, the Arts and Crafts movement, and Turkish style. The firm paid great attention to historical research with which it attempted to balance clients' desires for livable, usable, and often dramatic space. Within ten years the firm had become a major purchaser of European antiques, and by 1890 had established an antiques gallery as a separate firm that acquired and sold antiques to Jansen's clients and its competitors as well. Not originally equipped with its own workrooms for producing furniture the firm began by relying upon antiques and the furniture contracted to outside cabinetmakers. By the early 1890s Maison Jansen had established its own manufacturing capacity producing furniture of contemporary design, as well as reproductions, primarily in the Louis XIV, Louis XVI, Directoire, and Empire styles. less