Pair of Art Déco Oak and Leather Armchairs by De Coene Frères, Belgian, circa 1935

These two armchairs, measuring 61 centimetres wide, 63.5 deep, and 104 tall, unite the solidity of Belgian oak with the refinement of leather upholstery in a combination entirely characteristic of the Art Déco aesthetic as interpreted in the workshops of the Belgian interior. The clean geometric lines of the frames—the characteristic Art Déco grammar of right angles and considered curves—speak to the period’s ambition to reconcile modernist form with artisanal quality. The proportions are authoritative without being massive; the leather seating and backrest introduce a register of warmth and luxury into the restrained oak structure.

De Coene Frères, founded in Kortrijk (Courtrai) in the late nineteenth century, became one of the most important furniture houses in Belgium and among the most significant exponents of the Art Déco style in northern Europe. Their workshops combined the traditions of Flemish woodworking craftsmanship with the production capacities of a modern industrial atelier, allowing them to execute furniture of exceptional quality at a scale that could supply both private clients and major institutional commissions. De Coene exhibited at international expositions including the landmark 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, where the Art Déco style took its name. Their furniture was characterised by disciplined geometry, the use of noble native woods—oak, walnut, beech—and an elegance simultaneously luxurious and accessible to the cultivated bourgeois interior.

A pair of De Coene Frères armchairs is a significant acquisition: the firm’s production was considerable, but pieces that have survived in matching pairs at this quality of leather and woodwork represent the upper tier of the studio’s output. The leather, aged to a warm patina over eight decades, amplifies the inherent nobility of the oak, creating an ensemble of materials that only improves with time. These chairs are equally suited to a library, a dining room, or a salon, where their quiet authority and impeccable provenance will speak for themselves.