CARTIER GENEVA X LISON DE CAUNES
By : Mário de Castro
She is the French international master of straw marquetry, by destiny. The granddaughter of André Groult, a decorator and furniture designer, keeps perpetuating a family tradition running the sole workshop in Paris dedicated exclusively to the craft.
De Caunes quickly focused on the art of straw marquetry, starting in the 1980s by restoring furniture and objects from the 17th century to the Art Deco period before creating original straw marquetry designs embellishing furniture, home accessories and walls.
Today she keeps spearheading this technique collaborating on a regular basis for the likes of famous designers and decorators (Peter Marino, Mathieu Lehanneur…) as her work adorns the Guerlain flagship store on the Champs-Élysées, other luxury shops around the world as Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Cartier… The Bulgari Hotel and Cheval Blanc Paris…
For The House of Cartier iconic boutique in Geneva, recently renovated, Ateliers Lison de Caunes created decorative panels in straw marquetry. The first panel, an alcove in one of the lounges, is covered in a warm play of patterns featuring a panther – the famous symbol of the Cartier brand – adding to the cosy and intimate atmosphere of the room.
The walls and sliding doors of the boutique have been woven with light-colored natural straw forming a ray of sunlight thus creating an elegant, harmonious, and open feel to the space.
As De Caunes explains: “You don’t need to polish straw because it is protected by silicon, a natural varnish, which makes it waterproof and very resistant with a really bright shine.”
As for the Cartier Geneva boutique, straw marquetry creates a very sensorial atmosphere, very contemporary, and extremely modern. It encourages decorators to come and see how beautiful straw marquetry is.
