This technique, used since the 18th century, enabled the creation of decorative elements such as moldings or sculptures from textile fibers, paper and/or cardboard mixed with mineral powders and natural glues. Architect Richard Mique used this fast, inexpensive technique for the decorations and moldings of Queen Marie-Antoinette’s theater in Versailles, completed in 1780.
This paste could be molded, sculpted, used for structure or decoration… Once dry, it was as hard as stone, while retaining its suppleness and lightness. It was then decorated with paint or gold leaf.
At the end of the 19th century, industrialists such as the Adt family developed this carton-pierre technique to create molded carton-pierre furniture. This furniture was then coated with a black lacquer to protect it from humidity.
Carton-pierre then disappeared in favor of plastic and resin in the post-war years.
After several months of research, Louis-Marie Vincent used his knowledge of chemistry to update the recipe for carton-pierre. Claire and Louis-Marie Vincent have revived the technique of molded carton-pierre furniture, which is both strong and light, with an eye to ecology and the recovery of small scraps of parchment, fabrics from their made-to-measure projects, and the recycling of cardboard and paper from offices, which were destined to be thrown away.
They have created a range of textures, from raw, smooth and draped to molded shagreen and parchment skins. Shagreen will be increasingly difficult to import from Indonesia in the years to come, and this technique is a low-cost solution.
The Mobilier National had the idea of developing “Les Aliénés” collection based on historically-forgotten furniture with little heritage value, destined for destruction. The aim was to carry out innovative research in line with an eco-responsible approach to respecting and reusing materials.
Commissioned by the Mobilier National, which gave him carte blanche to transform a 19th-century Louis XV rosewood and gilded bronze chest of drawers, Louis-Marie Vincent imagined an enormous cloud created using a revisited carton-pierre technique, almost completely covering the chest of drawers.
After “La Rêveuse” chest of drawers, Louis-Marie Vincent once again designed and created clouds in carton-pierre on a black lacquered Pleyel grand piano for the French decorator Jacques Garcia.
Working from sketches, the MAISON LOUIS-MARIE VINCENT team sculpted and created carton-pierre clouds around the piano’s waist and rear leg, while keeping the rear lid open.
More recently, MAISON LOUIS-MARIE VINCENT created the UCHH console in carton-pierre for Galerie May, located in the famous Carré Rive Gauche square in Paris, the fruit of a beautiful encounter between the creative talent of Charles Tassin and the savoir-faire of Louis-Marie Vincent.
The console is a sculptural piece, medieval and futuristic, massive and light at the same time.
