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Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann was born in Paris
on August 28, 1879 to Alsatian parents
that owned a painting and contracting firm.
Ruhlmann spent most of his youth learning
his father’s trade during which time he made contact
with several young architects and designers. These
contacts would be Ruhlmann’s first look into the
world of furniture.
In 1907 upon his father’s death, Ruhlmann took over
the family business. Around 1910, a newly married
Ruhlmann had his first experience designing furniture
for their new apartment. This was also the first year
in which he exhibited his furniture publicly. In 1919
he founded a separate interior design company with
Pierre Laurent; the company designed everything
from wallpaper to rugs, light fixtures and furniture.
His early designs reflected the Art Nouveau influence popular in France at
the turn of the century. Later his influences could be traced to architects and
designers creating innovative furniture in Vienna around the time of the First
World War.
Although his very early work was quite heavy, apparently influenced by the
Arts & Crafts Movement, by 1920 Ruhlmann made clear his distain for the
movement. In a magazine interview in 1920 he succinctly stated his case:
“A clientele of artists, intellectuals and connoisseurs of modest means is
very congenial, but they are not in a position to pay for all the research, the
experimentation, the testing that is needed to develop a new design. Only the
very rich can pay for what is new and they alone can make it fashionable.
Fashions don’t start among the common people. Along with satisfying a
desire for change, fashion’s real purpose is to display wealth.” He further
stated: “Whether you want it or not, a style is just a craze. And fashion does
not come up from humble backgrounds.”
His strongest inspiration may have come from the classical design elements
and craftsmanship ideals found in 18th century furniture. Ruhlmann would
later shape these same ideals into what he called his precious pieces. These
pieces, most often occurring between 1918 and 1925 were his favorites. They
made use of the rarest woods such as Macassar ebony, Brazilian rosewood,
and amboyna burl, usually in combination with each other. Most of the forms
were very simple, making use of gentle, almost imperceptible curves. These
pieces were most often embellished with ivory; used for handles, dentil, feet,
and inlay. The ivory brought a static sense of control to the pieces that made
them unique, timeless and extremely elegant in form.
Contrary to popular thought, Ruhlmann did not work
with his hands and had no formal training in the
making of cabinets or furniture. In fact, all of his work
was done by outside cabinet shops until 1923 when he
assembled his own cabinetmaking shop.
By 1927, Ruhlmann’s shop had grown to two locations
employing 27 master cabinetmakers, four finishers, a
dozen upholsterers, a few apprentice cabinetmakers
and twenty-five draftsmen. While collaborating with
his cabinetmakers, he constantly pushed them to not be
confined by their craft. He would not accept that any
detail of his design could not be executed. Rather he
made his cabinetmakers start over and over until they
got it right, when he exclaimed “Don’t touch a thing,
it’s perfect.”
Ruhlmann’s work far exceeded the costly materials and consummate
workmanship that he touted. Although his pieces were exorbitant in price,
Ruhlmann admitted to a journalist: “Each piece of furniture that I deliver
costs me on average 20 or 25 percent more than what I charged for it. Over
the past trading year (1923) I have lost 300,000 francs net. The reason for me
to resist, to persist in creating furniture that costs me money instead of being
profitable, is that I still have faith in the future, and that I run another business
with safe return, and whose profits fill up the holes that I am digging in the
moon.”
Ruhlmann’s command over design and mastery of material combinations
yielded pieces of furniture that are historically incomparable. His formal
elegance made much of the work of his contemporaries appear bizarre in
form, and garish with respect to materials and color.
When Ruhlmann learned that he was terminally ill in 1933, he determined
to forever protect the name that he had built over a twenty-year period. In
his will, he stated that the company was to complete the orders that were
currently in-house, and then he ordered the dissolution of the company.
When examining Ruhlmann’s furniture, take notice of the subtle use of grain.
Ruhlmann was careful not to allow the figure of the wood to vie for attention
with the form of the furniture. His two favorite woods; Macassar ebony and
amboyna burl both create soft but striking background patterns, without
focusing attention on the wood itself. This allowed the veneers to support the
design details instead of competing with them. For more information on E.J.
Ruhlmann visit
É.J. RUHLMANN
Master Art Deco Furniture Designer
1879 - 1933
“TO CREATE SOMETHING THAT LASTS,
THE FIRST THING IS TO WANT TO CREATE SOMETHING
THAT LASTS FOREVER”
ÉMILE-JACQUES RUHLMANN FURNITURE DESIGNS