Louis Sognot
1892–1970
French designer who went from aluminium and chrome between the wars to rattan after it, and made the second look like the more radical move.
founded 1929, active into the 1990s
The Golfe-Juan workshop of Adrien Audoux and Frida Minet, who wrapped oak and beech frames in rope until the rope became the design.
Why they matter
Audoux and Minet opened in Cannes in 1929 and moved to Golfe-Juan, next to Vallauris, in 1942, into the stretch of coast where Picasso and the Vallauris potters were working. They sold from their own shop and used no dealers, which is part of why the record on them is thin.
The work is consistent: frames in oak or beech, often with legs and arms cut from one continuous member, then wound in abaca rope or raffia in a checkerboard or open mesh. Mirrors, benches, chairs, stools and lamp bases all get the same treatment.
Rope is the condition question and the pleasure of the thing. It fades from gold to grey, frays at the corners and slackens, and buyers generally want that rather than a rewind, since new rope reads bright and flat against old oak.
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Key forms & materials
Forms
- Rope mirror
- Rope and oak armchair
- Rope bench
- Woven stool
- Rope-wrapped lamp
- Rope-detailed sideboard
Materials
- Abaca rope
- Raffia
- Oak
- Beech
- Rattan
What to look for
Marks, editions, patina and production partners — fact-checked for this designer.
- Some pieces carry a paper label reading Fabrique de meubles Audoux-Minnet, occasionally with the workshop's black kitten mark, but labels appear on only part of the output.
- The firm spelled itself Minnet while the trade mostly writes Minet, so both spellings need to be searched.
- Look for legs and arms cut from a single continuous member, which is the workshop's habit and expensive to imitate.
- The business ran from 1929 into the 1990s, latterly under other ownership, so a rope piece from this address is not automatically by the founders.
- Anonymous French rope furniture is abundant and a great deal of it is sold under this name on resemblance alone.
Past Circa results
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