CIRCA Jansen

Dec 30, 2010 | Designs and Designers

Maison Jansen

Maison Jansen was one of the most influential design firms of the 20th Century. Maison Jansen was a Paris-based interior design firm that provided fabulous interiors, furniture, lighting and accessories for over a Century. Maison Jansen was the first International design firm, serving clients in Europe, Latin America, North America, and the Middle East by 1900. By the 1920s, Maison Jansen had offices around the world including, London, New York, Buenos Aires, Havana, Cairo, Prague, Rome, and Rio de Janeiro. Maison Jansen was founded in 1880 by Dutch-born Jean-Henri Jansen (1854-1928) and continued in practice until 1989.

Jean-Henri Jansen via Design Guide

In the beginning Maison Jansen contracted cabinetmakers to manufacture their furniture and by the early 1890s they began manufacturing their own. Maison Jansen manufactured contemporary designs and antique reproductions primarily in the Louis XIV, Louis XVI, Directoire, and Empire styles.

Inspired Reading…

James Archer Abbott, author of Jansen and Jansen Furniture, describes the Jansen look as “a skillful and seemingly impossible melding of 18th Century French palace historicism, 1920s Hollywood theatrics, and country house subtleties.”

Maison Jansen’s most published work was a project by Stéphane Boudin and Paul Manno for the White House during the Kennedy administration.

Maison Jansen clients include William III of the Netherlands, Alfonso XII of Spain, the Duke & Duchess of Windsor, King Leopold II of Belgium, the Shah of Iran, Leed’s Castle, Hotel Parr in Vienna, the German Reichsbank, the Rockefellers, Bartolomé March, Coco Chanel, Elsie de Wolfe and the Kennedys, among many others.

Since 1880, Maison Jansen has been synonymous with quality and elegance. Maison Jansen furniture designs range from period reproductions and reinterpretations to sleek contemporary designs.

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