Set of Three Rattan and Black Metal Tripod Planters, French circa 1950

A charming set of three mid-century planters that exemplify the best of French interior design in the years following the war, when natural materials — rattan, wicker, bamboo — were being combined with worked iron and lacquered metal in compositions of great warmth and decorative wit. Each planter is composed of a large conical basket woven from natural rattan, its wide-mouthed, tapering form held within a slender tripod of black lacquered iron whose three feet splay elegantly outward to give the ensemble both stability and a lightness of silhouette entirely characteristic of the period.

The basket-in-tripod formula has its roots in the French colonial interior tradition, where rattan and cane furniture and accessories were prized both for their tropical associations and for their practicality in warm climates. In the hands of the Parisian interior decorators and craftsmen of the 1950s, this tradition was refined into a domestic modernism of considerable charm: the organic warmth of natural woven fibre placed against the disciplined geometry of the iron framework, the contrast between the two materials creating a dialogue that is at once rustic and sophisticated. The set of three allows the pieces to be deployed as a single composition or distributed across different points of a room, creating a rhythm of natural forms that enlivens any interior.

At nearly 74 centimetres tall, each planter is generously proportioned for large houseplants, palms, or decorative branches, and the conical basket shape ensures excellent drainage while displaying the plant to full advantage. French craftwork, circa 1950. Sold as a set of three.