PIERRE PAULIN (1927–2009) “Bonheur du jour,” a model created in [1983]; one example was exhibited that same year at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris; our piece is numbered 09/30 “Bonheur du jour” made of precious wood. The octopod base supports an entablature that opens to reveal two slender drawers beneath the tabletop. The upper “Cathedral”-style section features an illuminated tier, designed in the style of a tabernacle, with six drawers and three flaps that open to reveal shelves and a filing cabinet. The tabletop, the compartments’ hatches, and the interior are lined with pink leather. 1980s. This piece was crafted by the Ségransan art cabinetmakers in Vienne (Drôme). Fading on the leather parts. Signed Pierre PAULIN and numbered 09/30 in an oblong recessed cartouche beneath the tabletop, and marked SEGRANSAN in another oblong recessed cartouche also beneath the tabletop. Height: 120 cm – Length: 68 cm – Depth: 51 cm Public collection and related work: Mobilier National, Paris – A slightly different version is held in this institution’s collections under inventory number GMC 306. Bibliography and related exhibitions: - Anne Chapoutot, with a foreword by Yvonne Brunhammer – *Pierre Paulin, a Universe of Forms* – Éditions Du May, Paris, 1992. Identical models reproduced on pages 120 (detail) and 121; the drawing of the model is reproduced on page 120. - Various authors – Centre national des arts plastiques, *L’atelier de recherche et de création du Mobilier national, 1964–2000: A Plea for Contemporary Furniture* – Catalog of the exhibition held at the Galerie nationale de Beauvais (March 15–September 15, 2001), Éditions Administration générale du Mobilier national, Paris, 2001. A slight variation is reproduced on page 63 (no. 66). - Myriam Zuber-Cupissol (ed.) – Mobilier National 1964–2004: 40 Years of Creation – Catalog of the exhibition held at the Palais de la Porte Dorée, Paris (October 20, 2004 – January 16, 2005); Musée d’Art et d’Industrie, Saint-Étienne (November 6, 2004 – January 10, 2005), published by Réunion des musées nationaux & Mobilier national, Paris, 2004. A slight variation is reproduced on page 184 (no. 159). - Nadine Descendre – Pierre Paulin: The Man and His Work – Éditions Albin Michel, Paris, 2014. Slight variations reproduced on pages 25 and 141; the drawing of the model reproduced on page 140. - Cloé Pitiot – Paulin – Catalog of the exhibition held at the Centre Pompidou, Paris (May 11 – August 22, 2016), Centre Pompidou Press, Paris, 2016. Identical model, or our work, reproduced on page 52 and described on page 188 (no. 56).