Jacques Tati’s furniture from Mon Oncle was honoured at this year’s Design Miami and select pieces are now available in strictly limited editions. But don’t expect to sit entirely comfortably…

Mon Oncle is one of the French filmmaker’s finest and his first in colour. The 1958 film centres around the memorable house Villa Arpel which servers as a platform to satire modern design and consumerism.

This film stars Jacques Tati himself as M. Hulot, the impractical but adored uncle of the nine year old Gérard who lives with his materialistic and status-driven parents in the Villa.

Three iconic pieces of furniture from the film were featured in the installation “Please Be Seated” presented by Les Ateliers Courbet and Thirlwall Design at the latest Design Miami, the global forum for design which brings together the most influential collectors, gallerists, designers, curators and critics.

The pieces “Mrs Arpel’s Sofa”, “Rocking Chair” and “Mr Hulot’s Bench” have been produced by French craftsmen and design publishers Domeau & Peres in collaboration with Jacques Tati’s Estate “Les Films de Mon Oncle.”

Aesthetics and gadgets have almost taken over the inhabitant’s lives in Mon Oncle to detrimental effect and the end result is an environment completely hostile to the comfort of its occupants.

In keeping with the film’s theme, these pieces are not entirely practical and have been newly produced in a highly limited edition of 8 pieces per furniture design – to be seen perhaps more as an art piece or sculpture. Only one full set of all three furniture pieces remains and only Edition no 8 of 8 of Mrs Arpel’s Sofa is currently still available. The collection already belong to important public and private collections including Le Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

Please contact us for details if you are interested in becoming a collector of these iconic these pieces.

The ‘Tati Collection’ has been exhibited in European museums and institutions since its 2007 unveiling in Paris with the actual Villa Arpel from the Mon Oncle movie set.

The collection was also included in the French Pavilion of the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2014. 

The production of the furniture pieces coincides with the publication of The Definitive Jacques Tati book: A 5-volume set published by Taschen on the work of the Oscar-winning French director/performer is now available via our store.

The installation will go on to be featured at Les Ateliers Courbet’s New York gallery in early 2020.