A BLACK LACQUERED AND UPHOLSTERED 'LOTA' SOFA

The apartment of Madame Mathieu-Levy on Rue de Lota in Paris was regarded as one of the most sensational examples of French interior architecture of the 1920's. Eileen Gray had created the decor over a period of five years. Among them were black and silver lacquered wall panels and a sumptuous lounge in the shape of a dug-out canoe. Yet another such showpiece was the sofa Lota with its luxuriant cushions and multicolored lacquered side pieces. Eileen Gray liked it so much that she later had a second one made for her own home. Angular cubes and soft cushions, aesthetics and comfort: Eileen Gray's Lota surmounts all contradictions and reconciles all dogma.