109 - Jean Burkhalter

Jean Burkhalter Folding breakfast tray Green plastic, brass Circa 1950 H30 × W53 × D65 cm A founding member of the Union des artistes modernes in 1929, alongside Robert Mallet-Stevens, Pierre Chareau, and Charlotte Perriand, Jean Burkhalter championed a rational approach to decorative art throughout his life, with a focus on new materials. This breakfast tray is a late example of that philosophy: a retractable brass base allows it to be used at a raised height—in bed or in the living room—and then folded away for storage or used as a serving tray. The combination of colored plastic—a modern material at the time—and brass lends this household object a understated elegance, true to the spirit of the UAM.