Coffee Table By Maria Pergay

Coffee table with 3 swivel trays, by Maria Pergay.
Chromed steel structure and resin trays.
1970s
Artist: Maria Pergay
It was in 1937 that Maria Pergay fled her native Moldova to join Paris. In 1947, she enrolled at IDHEC (Institut Des Hautes Etudes Cinématographiques) while attending Zadkine's workshop. In the mid-1950s, after her marriage to Marc Pergay, one of her friends offered her the opportunity to create decorative objects for the shop windows of the shoemaker Durer. She placed large wrought iron birds in the windows. This order was a huge public and professional success: it was the beginning of her career. New orders poured in, now Dior, Hugonet and Hermès asked her to invest their windows with wrought iron pieces encrusted with semi-precious stones and shells. Building on her successes, she opened a store in 1950 on Place des Vosges, in the heart of the Marais, to sell her creations alongside rich antiques and subtle pieces of Asian art. She began a unique collection of silver objects. It was then that she met Dali, with whom she worked on The Myth of the Butterfly and Fire, demonstrating her talent which, instead of fighting the past, provoked an alliance between the old and the modern. She questioned ancient myths while remaining formally anchored in her present. Wanting to stay at the forefront of innovation, it was around the mid-1960s that she began to use stainless steel. This brand new material became her source of inspiration, describing it as "as precious as the most precious wood". Her first steel collection included ring chairs and wave benches. It was in 1968 that she exhibited it at the Maison Jardin gallery, whose director was none other than the decorator Jean Dive. Stainless steel remained her preferred material, which she continued to work with throughout the 1970s, a period during which she found in Pierre Cardin the figure of a patron. It was from this moment that she exported her creations to the USA, Morocco, Russia and Saudi Arabia. She designed the palace of the Saudi royal family, as well as numerous villas. Maria Pergay creates furniture, objects and interiors, knowing how to mix refinement, luxury and dreaminess. Stainless steel allowed her to soften the shapes of furniture that she found rigid, to offer them the undulation of sensual curves.

Dimensions:
Height 36cm
Width 59 cm

Price: 2900 euros