Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann

Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann (1879-1923) is the most noted furniture designer of the twentieth century. Distinctly and almost exclusively Art Deco with occasional traces of Art Nouveau as, for instance, in the cabinet below with the flower motif inlay; otherwise all design elements are abstract. His early work was heavier, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement but he gradually moved away from that as he developed his own lighter style. He is also noted for the use of exotic woods: his two favourites were macassar ebony and amboyna burl, but he also used rosewood and oak. For accents, inlays and bases he used materials like ivory, leather and brass. He also designed rugs and lighting fixtures; one of his rugs can be seen in the L'exposition Moderne Maharajah below.

I saw a couple of his pieces at the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) in Toronto many years ago.

L'exposition Moderne Maharajah (Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris)

Many of his works can be seen at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris.

Since 1988 Pollaro Custom Furniture of New Jersey have been manufacturing copies of Ruhlmann furniture using his exact specifications.

KUBA Komet

This must be the highlight of Art Moderne in furniture.

The KUBA Corporation manufactured the Komet from 1957 to 1962 in Wolfenbuttel, West Germany.

This set stands 5' 7" tall, it's over 7' wide and weighs 289 Lb. (216 x 171 x 75 cm - 85 inches x 67 inches x 30 inches). The design is reminiscent of a sailboat. The upper section rotates like a sail on a mast, allowing the viewer to swing the 23" black and white television and speaker system in the desired direction. The blonde-colored wood is solid maple and the darker wood is wenge, a rare timber found only in West Africa. A high-gloss, polyester varethane coating gives it a sleek, shiny finish.

The Komet was the complete Home Entertainment Center for its time. Opening the door of the lower cabinet reveals the rest of its multi-media features. The early models usually came with a pull-out, 4-speed Telefunken phonograph on the left, and a television tuner in the center which received both UHF and VHF signals, the Telefunken multi-band radio receiver on the right picked up AM, FM, SW and LW frequencies. KUBA also released models that featured a storage shelf, commonly used as a small bar or to store vinyl record albums, or for an additional charge, you could order a magneto-phone wire recorder. Wire recorders were the forerunners to reel-to-reel and cassette audio recorders.

The top cabinet or "Sail" has eight speakers; six speakers on the top of the sail and two horn speakers pointing forward located beneath the main console.

The suggested retail price for this model was 2,798 DeutchMarks or approximately $1,260, which at that time, represented more than a year's wages for an average worker.

The KUBA Corporation changed hands several times before it closed its doors in 1972. There are very few surviving Komets in the world.

KUBA Komet shown with front cover open

Source: EarlyTelevision.org

Beginnings

I really like Art Deco design — it is my favourite period of design, whether it is in art (Tamara de Lempicka), furniture (Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann), jewelry (Raymond Templier and George Fouquet) or architecture (Frank Lloyd Wright). This period of design followed the Art Nouveau style of the late 19th and early 20th century. I also like a lot of the Art Moderne which followed Art Deco, particularly in appliances and furniture.