There are two 20th-century chairs I have always loved. One is Eileen Gray’s ‘Snake’ chair, which belonged to Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent. For some wonderful reason, fate gave me the other. It is by Emilio Terry, who isn’t very well-known, but in postwar Paris, he designed for prominent collectors. It is based on an 18th-century bergère [armchair], with a few twists. Those twists influenced my own early work.
The piece came from Carlos de Beistegui’s Champs-Elysées apartment. Le Corbusier designed the penthouse and Carlos, who was one of the most sociable men in Paris, devised the baroque interior. Le Corbusier fell out with Carlos because he didn’t agree with his taste but, for me, the mix of minimalism and extravagance was fundamental to my aesthetic when I became an interior designer.
One day in Paris, about 25 years ago, my partner David and I were looking in antiques-shop windows on our way to lunch. We saw this chair and thought: ‘Oh, my God, it’s the chair.’ Instead of going to lunch, we hung around waiting for the antiqueur to open the shop. Had we not been out that day, and had it not been lunchtime, somebody else might have bought it. It was meant to come to us.
It was once upholstered in ice blue, although the fabric was in a bad way. I decided to use the same satin, but in a bright green. The patina of almost 100 years of use has made the gold leaf gentle. It’s been a fixture in all of our homes, including our current home at the Albany in Piccadilly (pictured). Wherever it goes, it fits.
If this chair remembers all the things its occupants have said, it must have a lot of spirit. It was commissioned by a great man and has had a great journey, from parties that were thrown in the penthouse to its time with me and my friends. It’s part of me, and time spent sitting on it means a great deal. francissultana.com
