Salon Madeleine Castaing (1894-1992), Attributed To

Rare salon set comprising a three-seater sofa and a pair of armchairs. The seats are entirely upholstered in a remarkable velvet decorated with polychrome flowers on a black background, highlighted by an abundance of passementerie with bangs and tassels in an old rose hue.

By its theatrical character, its assertive taste for teeming floral prints and the richness of its textile trimmings, this set is fully in keeping with the aesthetic developed by Madeleine Castaing. A major figure in XXᵉ century French decoration, she was able to create a unique universe blending references to the XVIIIᵉ century, English Romanticism and decorative fantasy, whose influence remains considerable today.

The set presents a remarkable decorative quality and is a particularly seductive testimony to this "Castaing" spirit, which has become emblematic of French taste. The blend of 19th-century spirit, Napoleon III and "winter garden", characteristic of the "Castaing style".

France, circa mid-20ᵉ century.