Saint-Loup
” And when Saint-Loup, who needed to pass behind his friends, climbed on to the back of their bench and moved along it in a balancing act, muffled applause broke out from the body of the room. When he reached my seat he brought himself to a halt with the precision of a chieftain paying tribute before the throne of a sovereign, and stooping down, he courteously and submissively handed me the vicuna cloak, wich, a moment later when he had sat down beside me, he arranged around my shoulders as a light, warm shawl, without my having to lift a finger. “
Marcel Proust, The Guermantes Way
Saint-Loup, the character,
The Marquis of Saint-Loup-en-Bray known as Robert de Saint Loup is the best friend of the Narrator. Of the prestigious lineage of the Guermantes, he is a solar and charismatic character who has no prejudices of class and strives to offer a better place to the Narrator in the high society’s gambling.
In a famous extract of The Guermantes Way, Saint-Loup rises on the benches of a restaurant, passes nimbly over a chair in a spectacular vaulting exercise to bring the Narrator his coat.
Inspired by this dreamed friend, Anthony Guerrée imagined a singular seat: a stepladder chair paying homage to Saint-Loup’s funambulesque feat at the restaurant.
From literature to design
Saint Loup and the furniture in the novel
To Boulle furniture, Saint-Loup much prefers the modern style and collections of Bing to the chagrin of his family who has more conservative and patrimonial tastes in particular the Duchess of Guermantes.
[…] These aristocratic conversations had moreover the charm with Mme de Guermantes, of being couched in excellent French. For this reason they made permissible on the Duschess’s part her hilarity at the words “viaticum“, “cosmic“, “pythian“, “pre-eminent“, wich Saint-Loup used to employ – as, similarly, at his Bing furniture.
Marcel Proust, The Guermantes Way
Towards a stepladder/chair
The stepladder/chair “Saint-Loup” is a contemporary interpretation of the library scale. Its lines are fine and racy in the image of Saint-Loup, distinguished and svelte character. The solid brushed spruce and stained black was chosen for its marked veining which highlights traditional assemblages of cabinetmaking.