Bench ^{± 1905}

Although art nouveau had a progressive social vision, with ­designers who strived after a well-designed environment for all classes, most of their clients came from the wealthy bourgeoisie. Gustave Serrurier-Bovy was one of the first Belgians to take advantage of industrial serial production to make modern interiors for the working class. At the World’s Fair of 1905 in Liège, he exhibited sets of furniture whose formal idiom ties in with this bench. Thanks to their robust simplicity and the rational construction of visibly assembled boards, these pieces of furniture were very advanced. We don’t know what kind of turnover Serrurier-Bovy made with these cheap pieces of furniture. But in any case, he put his noble intention into practice in his own residence, Villa L’Aube, where the bedrooms of the maids were furnished with this type of furniture.

SOURCES

Xavier Folville, Gustave Serrurier-Bovy, architecte, commerçant et industriel, Art Nouveau & Ecology (Réseau Art Nouveau), 19/11/2011;
Met dank aan Werner Adriaenssens (Jubelparkmuseum).