This stunning Art Deco decorative box is reminiscent of Maison Desny's work. The piece was expertly crafted in France circa 1930. The decorative piece features Macassar wood sides with a chromed metal lid and structure. This box is also a blotter, with its curved bottom. Superb quality, French Art Deco at its best. There is no visible designer's mark.
 
Reference: The Maison DESNY, founded by Clément Nauny, whose surname results from the contraction of "DESsin" (drawing) and "NauNY," produces furniture, lighting, and silversmithing.
Clément Nauny was born in 1900 in Oran. Upon his arrival in Paris in 1918, he immersed himself in the artistic milieu and befriended Alfred Masson and Alberto Giacometti, often frequenting the Circle of Avant-Garde Artists. In 1927, this autodidact founded the DESNY house and opened a boutique at 122 Boulevard des Champs-Élysées.
Indirect light fixtures and modernist goldsmith pieces with a shape often close to sculpture will be an immediate success. The creations of this visionary, audacious, and astonishingly pure are part of an avant-garde movement due to their minimalist and asymmetrical geometric shape.
Clément Nauny is not alone in creating decorative art. He collaborates with two designers, Maurice Nauny, his brother Louis Poulain, and a workshop manager, Henri Dagneau.
Most DESNY luminaires are made of nickel-plated metal and glass; some, referred to as "light decorations," serve solely as a means to illuminate a dark corner of a room. Sometimes, mechanisms allow these lamps to adapt their shape and vary their light intensity.
The best-known clients of the DESNY house are the patron Pierre-David Weill, Georges-Henri Rivière, Robert Mallet-Stevens, and the Maharajah of Indore. Clément Nauny also collaborates with famous fashion houses such as Chanel, Lucien Lelong, and Worth.
The Great Depression, caused by the 1929 financial crash, ultimately undermined the original approach of the House of DESNY, and in 1933, the House ceased all activity.