André Sornay Buffets
Although he is among the least known of the like-minded French Art Deco furniture designers of his era, André Sornay introduced innovative fabrication techniques and a unique decorative style to his modernist seating, case pieces and other creations.
Sornay was born in Lyon in 1902, and graduated from École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Lyon in 1918. His career as a furniture designer began in 1919 when he was appointed head of his family’s furniture company after his father’s death.
In the early 1920s — inspired by the Bauhaus and De Stijl as well as his friends and fellow French avant-garde designers Francis Jourdain and Pierre Chareau — Sornay shifted the company’s focus from manufacturing period reproductions to creating contemporary designs.
Sornay’s work fused tradition with modernism. He preferred to work with metals, exotic woods such as mahogany and rosewood, rubber and Duco lacquer for a range of cabinets, desks, chairs and mirrors. Sornay’s pieces featured sleek brass drawer pulls and sharply geometric lines, and the distinctive mode that he worked in was known throughout Lyon as “Le Style Sornay.”
Sornay was also recognized for his inventive design methods that were not only decorative but functional. In 1932, he patented the cloudage technique — studding the perimeter of veneered furniture panels with uniform brass nails. Sornay integrated this technique into his wardrobes, side tables and the armchairs he designed, which were frequently defined by clean lines and sharp angles. In the early 1950s, he also patented a technique called the “Tigette,” which allowed for quick and easy assembly or disassembly of modular furniture — a forerunner to IKEA’s flat-packed furniture.
While Sornay isn’t as well known as other European modernists like Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand, he attracted modest attention at exhibitions of the day, such as the 1923 Salon d’Automne and the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, the design fair that brought the Art Deco style to the world. He was awarded the bronze medal at Paris’s Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne in 1937.
In the late 1950s, Sornay ceded control of his furniture design company to his children, remaining as an advisor until production ceased in 1999. He died the following year.
On 1stDibs, discover a range of vintage André Sornay case pieces and storage cabinets, seating and tables.
1940s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage André Sornay Buffets
Brass
1930s French Art Deco Vintage André Sornay Buffets
Brass
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern André Sornay Buffets
Marble, Brass
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage André Sornay Buffets
Wood
Early 1900s French Louis XVI Antique André Sornay Buffets
Carrara Marble
1980s Unknown Mid-Century Modern Vintage André Sornay Buffets
Bamboo, Hardwood
Mid-20th Century French André Sornay Buffets
Beech
1940s French Art Deco Vintage André Sornay Buffets
Cocobolo
1980s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage André Sornay Buffets
Ash
19th Century French Antique André Sornay Buffets
Wood
Mid-20th Century French Art Deco André Sornay Buffets
Mirror, Oak
Early 20th Century French Brutalist André Sornay Buffets
Oak
Mid-19th Century Italian Napoleon III Antique André Sornay Buffets
Carrara Marble, Brass
Early 20th Century French Art Deco André Sornay Buffets
Oak
1960s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage André Sornay Buffets
Glass, Wood, Mahogany
1940s French Art Deco Vintage André Sornay Buffets
Marble, Copper
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage André Sornay Buffets
Formica, Mahogany
20th Century French André Sornay Buffets
Oak
