Pair of Modernist Steel, Brass and Wrought Iron Andirons, in the Style of Jacques Adnet, circa 1940

Jacques Adnet (1900–1984) stands as one of the most complete figures of French modernist design, a creator whose career bridged the rich decorative world of the Art Déco interior and the more austere formalism of the postwar decades. As director of the Compagnie des Arts Français from 1928 to 1959 — the prestigious Parisian firm founded under the banner of « l’art dans la vie » — Adnet oversaw some of the most elegant interiors of the interwar period, developing a signature aesthetic that combined rigorous geometric structure with a warmth of material and refinement of detail that set him apart from his more doctrinaire modernist contemporaries.

The material combination that characterises these andirons — steel, brass, and wrought iron — is entirely consistent with Adnet’s formal vocabulary: the polished clarity of steel, the golden warmth of brass, and the dark weight of forged iron working together to create an object simultaneously industrial and deeply refined. Adnet was notable for his ability to find beauty in the dialogue between contrasting materials and surfaces — matte and polished, cool and warm — and these andirons, dating to circa 1940, embody that dialogue in a particularly concentrated form.

At 18 centimetres wide and 29 centimetres tall, these are andirons of considered proportion: compact but authoritative, designed to sit with elegance rather than to dominate. The modernist character of the composition — its disciplined geometry, its avoidance of historical ornament — speaks directly to Adnet’s conviction that the everyday objects of the domestic interior deserved the same intellectual rigour as architecture itself.

Presented in very good condition consistent with their age, with the mixed metals retaining their integrity and character, this pair of andirons offers the collector a distinguished example of the French modernist fireside accessory in the refined tradition of one of the period’s most influential designers. Dimensions per andiron: 18 × 37.5 × 29 cm.