While he’s among the lesser-known figures associated with the Art Deco style, Michel Dufet enjoyed a prolific career as an architect, painter and art critic throughout the 20th century, creating sophisticated and functional furniture that is today collected worldwide.
In 1913, Dufet founded the Mobilier Artistique Modern (MAM) decorating workshop, which produced a range of modern furniture, lighting, fabrics and wallpaper. Additionally, he pursued other creative interests, such as publishing the magazine Feuillets d’Art in 1918 with poet and dramatist Paul Claudel, Nobel Prize-winning author André Gide, novelist Marcel Proust and composer Gabriel Fauré.
From 1922 to 1927, Dufet worked as director of design at South America’s largest interior design company, Red Star, based in Rio de Janeiro. While he was in Brazil, he sold MAM to the firm P. A. Dumas in 1924.
In 1928, Dufet returned to Paris to oversee the Atelier d’Art du Bûcheron’s Le Sylve design studio with art critic Léandre Vaillant. While there, Dufet became known for using exotic woods such as satinwood, walnut, mahogany and rosewood, as well as introducing subtle Cubist flourishes in designs for commodes, cabinets, dining room tables and buffets. Dufet’s chunky armchairs and club chairs were characterized by a distinctly geometric style which meant that armrests and bases typically took on overtly square or semi-circle forms.
Throughout the 1930s, Dufet received several design commissions, including set designs for theaters and films and interiors for luxury ocean liners. He also became editor-in-chief of the bi-monthly publication Décor d’Aujourd’hui (Today’s Décor) in 1933.
In later years, Dufet continued designing furniture, albeit to a lesser degree. In 1947, he married the daughter of French sculptor Antoine Bourdelle and dedicated the bulk of his time to preserving the legacy and works of his father-in-law from 1950 onward. In 1972, Dufet became curator of the Musée Bourdelle, eventually retiring before his death in 1985.
Throughout his long and distinguished design career, Dufet participated in several exhibitions, beginning with the Salon des Artistes Français in 1914. In 1937, he exhibited at the Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne with designer René Gabriel and designed the French Pavillion for the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City.
Today, Dufet’s pieces remain highly sought by architects, interior designers and collectors of modernist Art Deco furniture.
On 1stDibs, discover a range of antique and vintage Michel Dufet seating, tables, case pieces and storage cabinets.
$26,000
Michel Dufet Dining Table
By Michel Dufet
Located in Philadelphia, PA
French Modernist Art Deco dining table in rosewood (top) and mahogany (base). 63" long x 35.5" wide. Please note that this table is ...
Mahogany, Rosewood
$4,083
H 21.66 in Dm 40.16 in
Coffee Table / Gueridon, Colonial Art Deco, In the Style of Michel Dufet, 1930's
By Michel Dufet
Located in VÉZELAY, FR
Teak Solid Wood Coffee Table / Gueridon, Colonial Art Deco, In the Style of Michel Dufet, Circa 1930 Coffee table / gueridon made of solid teak wood with a circular top. Base compo...
Wood, Teak
Italian Art Deco Dining Table
Located in Paddock Wood Tonbridge, GB
Italian Art Deco Dining Table This stunning Art Deco dining table, a true masterpiece of Italian craftsmanship from the 1930s. Adorned with exceptional figured walnut and contrastin...
Walnut
Brown Oak Round Dining Table
Located in Westwood, NJ
Modern round dining table modern round burnt brown oak veneered extension dining table with self-storing leaves, on a tapered col...
Wood
Satinwood Pull Out Side Table by Michel Dufet
By Michel Dufet
Located in Montreal, QC
Satinwood Pull Out Side Table by Michel Dufet with figured square top, each side with a pull out drink slide France: circa 1929 Bibliography: "Art et Industrie...
Satinwood
$1,579
H 30.71 in W 21.46 in D 13.59 in
French 1930s Art Deco Modernist Table Gueridon by Michel Dufet
By Michel Dufet
Located in Devon, England
Wonderfully stylish and totally authentic French, Art Deco Gueridon, dating to the 1930s and designed by Michel Dufet. Fabulous table is great to display items, perhaps figures or any other prized pieces. Features three-tiered circular platforms supported on chrome tubular poles the whole having an asymmetrical modernist spirit. We've had this table fully and professionally restored and so comes to you in showroom condition with no faults to mention. Measure: Diameter of the circular shelves...
Chrome
1935 Jansen Dining Table
By Maison Jansen
Located in New York, NY
The January 1935 issue of Plaisir de France featured two dining tables by Jansen. The editors saw fit to present the same photograph of one of the two once again in the book Decoration de France, a 1949 compilation of articles and images previously published in the magazine. This photograph shows the table before an antique Chinese screen, extravagantly set with Lalique glass, and a fantastical Misia...
Bronze, Other
$4,500 / item
H 30 in W 90 in D 36 in
Bertu Dining Table, Modern Oval Dining Table, Dining Table, Maple, Cava
By Bertu Furniture
Located in Oak Harbor, OH
Bertu Dining Table, Modern Oval Dining Table, Dining Table, Maple, Cava This Cava Modern Oval Dining Table is made in the heart of Ohio with...
Wood, Maple
$8,900
H 29 in W 40 in D 80 in
Onyx Marble Dining Table - Translucent Marble Dining Table - Marble Dining Table
Located in İnegöl, TR
ONYX MARBLE DINING TABLE Type of Marble: Onyx Dimensions: 80" x 40" (200 x 100 cm) Customizable: Available! Production Time: 3-4 Weeks Shipping Cost: Free! Package Method: Wooden P...
Stone, Marble, Onyx
O dining table
By Scapin Collezioni
Located in Milan, IT
The shaded lacquering technique gives the thin legs of the table a striking geometric lightness and makes it an illusion that the top is floating.
Wood
"À Table" Dining Table
By Project 213A
Located in Macieira de Sarnes, PT
À table - dining table. An asymmetric table top standing on five oval legs. Each segment carved from an individual piece of cherry wood to showcase the natura...
Cherry
$3,500 / item
H 30 in Dm 48 in
Bertu Dining Table, Modern Round Dining Table, Dining Table, Maple, Cava
By Bertu Furniture
Located in Oak Harbor, OH
Bertu Dining Table, Modern Round Dining Table, Dining Table, Maple, Cava This Cava Modern Round Dining Table in Maple is made in the heart of Ohio with locally sourced wood. We use ...
Wood, Maple
The Antilles Dining Table
By Jonathan Sainsbury
Located in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
A fine modernist design selected walnut segmented veneered oval dining table. The single piece top supported by two octagonal column bases upon stepped platforms. Please note we are...
Mahogany