Secretaire and cabinet by Alfred Porteneuve

If he had been any less of a talent in his own right, Alfred Porteneuve (1869-1949) would have easily had his whole career eclipsed by his collaborations with his uncle, the eminent Art Deco master Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann. Nephew Alfred joined the office shortly after having studied architecture at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and quickly became an integral presence, planning interior design projects and overseeing national and international exhibition designs, including the iconic interiors of L’Hôtel du Collectionneur pavilion at the 1925 Paris Exposition.

After Ruhlmann passed away in 1933, Porteneuve oversaw the closing of the firm according to his uncle’s wishes, then setting up his own workshop. Like his mentor, Porteneuve had an elegant style, but more relaxed in keeping with the times, often in lighter woods, such as fruitwood, and often including metal and lacquer surfaces. He received numerous public and private commissions into the 1940s, including the interiors for the ocean liner Pasteur in 1939.