Eileen Gray was an Irish architect and furniture designer born in 1878 at Enniscorthy, County Wexford.
Her designs have become classics and she is widely recognised as one of the most significant designers of the Art Deco period.
Famous for tubular metal functional furniture, table lamps and upholstered furniture, Gray died at age 98 in Paris in 1976.
Her life took many twists and turns. The video below gives a good and fascinating introduction to the life of this interesting woman.
People often talk about form and function in the context of interior design and Gray certainly designed with that idea very much in mind. As you will have seen from the video, many of her designs have become very collectable and valuable.
Whilst much of her furniture is extremely hard to find nowadays, its always worth checking out the French antique fairs and vide-greniers where you might just strike lucky.
Further reading: Art Deco Interiors by Patricia Bayer published by Thames And Hudson.
HEAL 