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is Having a Moment I n May at TEFAF New York (the renowned fair for museum- q u a l i t y a r t and design), a salvaged suite of straw-marquetry panels and doors by Jean-Michel Frank made a rare appearance. Designed in 1929 for Princess Winnaretta de Polignac's music room in her villa near Paris, the extraordinary architectural elements were jointly acquired last year by Galerie Jacques Lacoste in Paris and Féau Boiseries, the storied 1875 Paris atelier known for rescuing and reproducing antique carved wood paneling; they are now for sale via the gallery. A team of artisans at Féau Boiseries also recreates straw marquetry panels from the famous room using the same technique developed by Frank. Labor-heavy and costly, straw marquetry is rarely executed at room scale. An exacting, hand-laid art, it involves splitting, flattening, and burnishing stalks before inlaying them in razor- precise geometry — often sunbursts or fans — so the straw's natural silica sheen catches and throws light. Artisans favor rye straw, traditionally sourced from Burgundy and other northern French fields, which is prized for its length and uniform glow. Thought to have originated in the East, straw marquetry appeared across Europe in the 17th century. It reached a peak at the court of Louis XV, where it served as an architectural accent and adorned furniture and objects at Versailles, then filtered through 18th-century salons. At the same time, it endured as humble handiwork taught in convents and prisons, where time and patience were plentiful. In Jean-Michel Frank's era, the technique was generally confined to furniture. A single From new furniture collections to the French president's official car — and a rare, Jean-Michel Frank-paneled room now for sale — the craft long associated with aristocratic taste is back in the spotlight. By Rebecca Sherman square meter could equal a skilled worker's annual salary, which is why his full-room application for Princess de Polignac stands as an unparalleled feat of ambition and artistry. De Polignac — born Winnaretta Singer, heiress to the sewing- machine fortune — was a powerhouse patron who commissioned new works from Maurice Ravel and Erik Satie, among many others, shaping Paris' musical life in the early 20th century. Frank, then France's most sought- after designer, served an elite clientele that ran from the Guerlain perfume dynasty and the Rothschild banking family to A m e r i c a n e x p a t composer Cole Porter and Italian couturière Elsa Schiaparelli. He perfected a lean but luxe vocabulary that incorporated distinctive materials such as parchment, shagreen, and mica. For de Polignac's music room, Frank went radical: The walls and entrance d o o r w e re c l a d in blonde straw marquetry, with a stylized musical staff woven into the design from a composition by her husband, Prince de Polignac. The room struck a new chord for the centuries-old craft, elevating straw from humble handiwork to surfaces of luminous refinement. Alongside André Groult and Paul Poiret, Frank helped reintroduce straw marquetry to French high society in the 1920s. Straw Marquetry Princess Winnaretta de Polignac's music room in Paris, designed by Jean-Michel Frank in 1929 and salvaged by Féau Boiseries, was displayed at TEFAF NY last spring. Koket's new collection of straw marquetry furniture includes the Celine armoire.