Reconstructions of the cushions

Simone Cholet, known as Nane Cholet in partnership with Relax Factory
A photograph by the American photographer and journalist Thérèse Bonney dating from around 1929 shows a close-up of a footrest made up of three cushions sewn together. The largest, in the shape of a half-cylinder, serves as a base for the other two, cylindrical and narrower, placed on each of the convex sides.

The cushions are placed in front of an armchair, the legs of which resemble the hammock model designed by Pierre Dariel for Robert Mallet-Stevens. According to the caption, the cushion is made of wool felt.
The photograph is accompanied by another, taken in the same context: it shows a seat cushion on a transatlantic liner chair. It is made up of six cylindrical cushions of the same diameter. The caption provides information about the colours of this second cushion, with the six cylinder-shaped elements ranging in colour from beige to brown black.

Thérèse Bonney’s photograph is the only known source for the À Tes Pieds cushion. Its reconstruction is therefore based on the information provided by this photograph: shape, material, appearance, dimensions, etc. The colour of the cushion was chosen to match that of the seat cushion, which was obviously created in the same spirit. The brown shade chosen corresponds both to the relatively dark tone seen in the black and white image and to a colour often used in the decorative arts of the second half of the twentieth century.

Simone Cholet, known as Nane Cholet
In the 1920s, Simone Cholet, a native of Bourges, ran the La Crémaillère gallery in Paris, exhibiting works by decorative artists and editing objects and furniture. In particular, she organised landmark exhibitions of Jean Van Dongen’s ceramics and the work of Alexandre Noll. In 1928, she married the decorator Jean Tranchant, who had links with Paul Poiret and Raoul Dufy among others, and took the pseudonym Nane Cholet. She signed her own designs, of which few traces remain. From the 1930s onwards, the couple successfully turned to popular song. Nane died in 1973.

Relax Factory
Founded in 2007 by Jean-Baptiste Moutte, the Relax Factory upholstery workshop offers individuals and professionals the manufacture and restoration of antique and designer furniture. In particular, it works on creations by the great names of twentieth-century architecture and modern decoration.