Antoine Philippon & Jacqueline Lecoq

Antoine Philippon & Jacqueline Lecoq
Desk, 1967
Rosewood, glass, aluminum
75 H x 190 x 188 cm
29.5 H x 74.8 x 74.02 inches
Edition E.I.B Minvielle under the label “Mobilier National”
Inscribed "Parsol Sécurit, Saint-Gobain"

Provenance:
Private office of Jacques Duchamel (1924-1977) at the Paris headquarters of the Party for Democracy and Progress (CDP). Duchamel was President from early 1970s to his death in 1977, and simultaneously held the position of Minister of Cultural Affairs from 1971-1973. This work has remained with the family since his death.

Exhibited:
This design would be presented at the French Pavilion of the Universal Exposition, Montreal 1967, as well as being utilized within offices of the Commissariat Général de la Ville de Paris, to include those of Commerce Extérieur, the l'ORTF, and various other offices. In March 1967, the administrative office of Mobilier National had commissioned from Antoine Philippon and Jacqueline Lecoq a system of furnishings that included desks, both with and without returns, as well as tables and storage cabinets. The basic cabinetry and laminated elements were undertaken by the Research & Development department of Mobilier National, whilst Degorre took responsibility for the manufacture of the glass and metal components, and whose technicians oversaw the final assembly. This was a system of furnishings guided by geometry and determined by the use of three glass panels - one for each support, and a third to represent the work surface, beneath which a bank of drawers were suspended from the metal frame. This desk bears witness to the near-obsessive determination of the designers to create minimalist structures, defined by transparency, and not simply determined by the immateriality of the colour of the basic timbers used. 

Text from the exhibition catalogue, Mobilier National 40 ans de création, Palais de la Porte Dorée, Paris, p. 181

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