Chaise
The model for this chair was designed by Carlo Bugatti for one of the decorated pieces he presented at the first International Exhibition for Modern Decorative Arts in Turin, in 1902. This "games and conversation room" reproduced a snail shell on a human scale. Soon nicknamed "Camera a chiocciola" (Snail Room), as much a meditation on the theme of the spiral as a variation on the animal's morphology, this "installation" marked the high point of Carlo Bugatti's furniture design.
To enhance the curves, Carlo Bugatti decided to cover these new forms with one continuous, satin-smooth piece of vellum, perfectly attached to the wooden structure. This layer was illuminated further with a light decoration of delicate, red and gold insects.
Having "provoked, within the jury as well as the public, the liveliest discussions [...] and the most heated debates", Carlo Bugatti was awarded the Diploma of Honour, the highest reward, for having managed to be "the first person in Italy to create, and not just dream of a modern style of furniture.
- collection A. Lesieutre - Paris
- 1989, vente collection Lesieutre, Paris, Hôtel George V (n°303)
- 1992, acquis (comité du 25/06/1992, conseil du 01/07/1992, arrêté du 20/07/1992)
- 1992, attribué au musée d'Orsay
- Esposizione internazionale d'arte decorativa moderna - Parco del Valentino - Italie, Turin, 1902, Section italienne, n°92
- Bugatti - Gallerie Civiche d'Arte Moderna - Italie, Ferrare, 1988, n°49 p.49
- Torino 1902. Le Arti Decorative Internazionali del Nuovo Secolo - Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea - Italie, Turin, 1994-1995, n°357b p.447
- De l'Impressionnisme à l'Art Nouveau, acquisitions du musée d'Orsay 1990-1996 - musée d'Orsay - France, Paris, 1996-1997, p.238
- 1900 - Galeries nationales du Grand Palais - France, Paris, 2000
- Carlo Bugatti (1856-1940) - musée d'Orsay - France, Paris, 2001
- Art nouveau revival 1900. 1933. 1966. 1974 - musée d'Orsay - France, Paris, 2009-2010
- Liberty : uno stile per l'Italia moderna - Musei San Domenico - Italie, Forli, 2014, p. 346-347, 363, cat. 295
- Dolce vita ? Du Liberty au design italien, 1900-1940 - musée d'Orsay - France, Paris, 2015, ill 24, p.41
- Una Dolce vita ? : Dal Liberty al design italiano 1900-1940 - Palazzo delle Esposizioni - Italie, Rome, 2015-2016, ill 24, p.41
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Fuchs, Georg, Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, "Das italianische Kunst-Gewerbe auf der Turiner Austellung 1902", Darmstadt, [s.n.], 1902, t.XI, p.135
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Melani, Alfredo, Arte italiana decorativa e industriale, "L'Esposizione d'arte decorativa moderna in Torino. III. Mobili italiani", Venise, Ferd. Ongania éd., 1902, t.XI, n°6, p.49
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Anonyme, A. De Vecchi & C. (Già C.Bugatti & C.). Fabbrica Italiana Mobili Artistici, Milan, [s.n.], 1904, n°764
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Dejean, Philippe, Carlo, Rembrandt, Ettore, Jean Bugatti, Paris, Editions du Regard, 1981, p.55
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Anonyme, Collection Alain Lesieutre et à divers. Catalogue de vente, [Vente, Art, Paris, Hôtel George V, 13 décembre 1989], Paris, Ader-Picard-Tajan, 1989, n° 303
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Cachin, Françoise, Chefs-d'oeuvre du musée d'Orsay, New York, Artabras, 1994, p.276
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Thiébaut, Philippe, L'Estampille, L'Objet d'art, "Carlo Bugatti décorateur et créateur de meubles", Dijon, SFBD-Archéologia, 2001, n° 358, mai, p.50
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Thiébaut, Philippe [sous la direction de], Art nouveau revival, 1900. 1933. 1966. 1974, Gand, Snoeck ; Musée d'Orsay, 2009, p. 78 ; p. 96
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(dir.) Cogeval, Guy, Le Musée d'Orsay à 360 degrés, Paris, Skira ; Flammarion ; Musée d'Orsay, 2013, p. 288, texte par Philippe Thiébaut
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Demandt, Philipp ; Daemgen, Anke, Rembrandt Bugatti, the sculptor 1884-1916, Hirmer , 2014, fig.4
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Thiébaut, Philippe, Exposition 1900, cat. exp. (Paris, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, du 14 mars au 26 juin 2000), Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 2000, n° 338, p. 303
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Massé, Marie-Madeleine ; Bascou, Marc ; Charles-Roux, Edmonde [préf.], Carlo Bugatti, cat.exp. (Paris, musée d'Orsay, 10 avril-15 juillet 2001, Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 2001, n° 48, p. 54
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Massé, Marie-Madeleine, Carlo Bugatti au Musée d'Orsay : catalogue sommaire illustré du fonds d'archives et des collections, Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 2001, n°14.1, p.154
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