Maison Jansen, Jean Charles & Maison Charles furniture
are distinctly separate companies but they have caused lots of confusion in the vintage business.
Jean Charles Furniture and Maison Jansen both produced a wide range of furniture in Paris over the last century and both closed in the late 1980`s. While little is known about Jean Charles, their furniture appears consistently stamped with a logo of `JC` followed by `Jean Charles`.
On the other hand we have found few examples of furniture stamped `Maison Jansen` or `Jansen` but their history is well documented.
Maison Jansen was a Paris based interior decoration office founded in 1880 and continued
until 1989. By 1890 Jansen produced its own furniture & lighting of contemporary design like Vienna Secession, Modernism and Art Deco , together with reproductions of mainly French styles. Their most famous achievement was the redecoration of the White House in 1962 under the administration of John F. Kennedy mostly in the American Empire style.
Maison Charles, was founded in 1908 by Ernest Charles and still in operation today
primarily focusing on lighting
. A table lamp by Maison Charles is know for it`s quality of design and materials. Their classic collection of the 1950`s & 1960`s looked to nature and exotic influences. The company named each piece such as “nenaphur” and “pivot” which in English is simply “lily pad” and “poppy”. All their lamps are stamped `Made in France Charles`
On this site we often have in stock original Maison Jansen Lighting, Maison Jansen coffee tables and
Willy Rizzo coffee tables, who also produced for Jansen.