Meubles paysans : mobilier de montagne

Handcrafted by artisans for domestic use, traditional mountain folk furniture bears witness to its environment, revealing as much about the person who made it as it does about the social and economic practices of their time.

These everyday objects, adorned with the intention of making them more beautiful, often attain a sense of the sublime through their poetic quality. A silent trace of a repeated gesture, the piece of furniture unwittingly becomes a work of abstraction, initiating an intimate dialogue between traditional craftsmanship and contemporary art. It is hard to say exactly when its creator ceases to be a craftsman and becomes an artist.

This book brings together a rare selection of these useful and beautiful pieces of furniture, this neglected art form of the shepherds and peasants of yesteryear. It enriches our understanding of these everyday treasures through descriptions of their technical and stylistic characteristics and their intended use, all set against the backdrop of the customs and traditions of the era.