1960s Attributed to Eero Saarinen X Charlotte Perriand Tokyo Tulip Table

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From the moment the catalog for Christies Design 2022 catalog dropped, we were enamored with the Saarinen tulip table edited … Read more From the moment the catalog for Christies Design 2022 catalog dropped, we were enamored with the Saarinen tulip table edited by Charlotte Perriand. And while we could never compete with the final hammer price, we did set out to craft an homage to the table Perriand created for her husband's apartment in Tokyo.

Using a vintage cast iron based form an original Saarinen table, we stripped it and repainted it in a black that seemed to match the Perriand example. Then, with the work of a local craftsman, we set out to construct the base. To avoid being a complete copy, we opted make the surface 32" square instead of the original 42". Half original, half edited just like Perriand's.

Story provided by Christies: In 1952, Eero Saarinen met with his friend Charlotte Perriand to discuss a possible reissue of the Jeanneret, Le Corbusier, Perriand furniture by Knoll. Although the discussions did not bear fruit, the designer took the opportunity to show him a drawing of her table with the Corolle base made in 1934 for Le Corbusier’s apartment. Saarinen was inspired by this to create one of the most famous elements in the history of design: the Tulip base (1957). In 1969, when she fitted out her husband Jacques Martin’s Tokyo apartment, Charlotte used a Tulip base, putting a Japanese-made square top on it. The whole table was painted black and looked perfect in the U-shaped living room. We do know that there was an amusing precedent when she was choosing the executive chairs for the UN’s Palais des Nations in Geneva. Choosing Saarinen’s model 71 M, but which required a few modifications, Saarinen hastened to give her his approval in a letter dated 12 January 1960, stating, ‘This is a concession I would make to only about two or three other persons - IN THE WORLD!’ [IN THE WORLD! added by hand], quoted in his letter of 12 January 1960, Archives Charlotte Perriand.

Archival Image Credit: DR / Archives Charlotte Perriand / © Adagp, Paris, 2022

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