« Can we sit down? », asks this couple who visited the Salon de la chair in Hagetmau, Saturday October 19, before taking a seat on a sofa. On the stand, Sylvain Bastiat answers “yes”, obviously. So much politeness makes you smile. Because if there is ever an opportunity to test the seating, the support, the softness of the models on display, it is during this annual showcase of local know-how in terms of furniture.
Hagetmau: the Chair Fair celebrates tailor-made
From Friday October 18 to Sunday October 20, the Salon de la chair returns to the Chaloisse city. Around fifty exhibitors will be present, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the covered market and in the Rotonde room to highlight custom-made furniture and Hagetmautien know-how.
A showcase that does not take place there, in Chalosse, by chance. Starting Friday and continuing until this Sunday, the event allows you to admire and test the chairs, armchairs, sofas and other benches from the historic Hagetmautian companies – Navailles, Espace Feu, Sièges Bastiat, HD Sièges and Meubles du Petit Rey – who take advantage of this to also open the doors of their stores and workshops in town (1).
There are also companies with the Living Heritage (EPV) label, specialists in furniture and decoration, such as La Chaiserie landaise in Peyrehorade, Agglolux, a cork specialist in Soustons, and the neighbors of Orthez Tissage Moutet. As well as a whole production of furniture and decorative element artisans who have in common the work of ancestral materials, wood, ceramics, glass, leather, to create unique, tailor-made pieces (this is the theme of the show), or offer a second life to others.
Exclusivity
You can try all the chairs at the Salon de la chair, all except two this year, those which sit majestically on a small podium of the Bastiat stand and its brand of high-end seats Bosc. And for good reason! These are two examples of the chair chosen by the Ministry of Culture and the Diocese of Paris to refurnish Notre-Dame Cathedral after the fire which partially destroyed the building on April 15, 2019. A model that cannot be neither try nor buy from elsewhere, because they are under an exclusive contract. “1,500 chairs will be installed between November 21 and 1is December, as well as around twenty benches (half of what was ordered), 70 kneelers (out of 160) and the prie-dieu”, Sylvain Bastiat calculates in his head. The furniture is what will be arranged last before the inauguration, scheduled for December 7. Until then, they are only visible in Hagetmau this weekend and on display at the factory.
“1,500 chairs will be installed, as well as benches, kneelers and prayer tables”
At the origin of this adventure, there is the Nantes designer Ionna Vautrin, who contacted the Landes SME to work on a prototype and respond to the call for tenders, more than a year and a half ago. “We are going to extend the work with her,” reveals an enthusiastic Sylvain Bastiat, “with a range developed around a chair, of the same inspiration.”
For centuries of centuries
Not about to come down from the little cloud on which he has climbed with this extraordinary project, the grandson of the founder of the company presents in detail this chair with a destiny mapped out for centuries. It is made of Sologne oak, and it takes half a day of cumulative work for its assembly, machining and coloring. It was made with the collaboration of Hagetmau cabinetmaker and wood turner Xavier Favaro, for the feet and bars of the backrest. The brass fasteners come from Almeca in Saint-Paul-lès-Dax, and the “ND” laser engraving on the backrest is made by Woodstache in Soustons.
Landes: six pins in the playgrounds
Cabinetmaker and wood turner from Hagetmau, Xavier Favaro is the last Landes manufacturer of the pieces of this game played between Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Gers and Pyrénées-Atlantiques. The Department called on him to equip around ten schools
“It’s a little bit of pride,” recognizes Xavier Favaro very humbly, also present at the show. Above all, he would never have imagined participating in such a project. On reflection, the man who turned more than 25,000 pieces in his workshop for the Notre-Dame furniture range, realizes that “it is a source of pride for all the people here that this project was carried out in the region “. And as he has never seen the Parisian cathedral, “it will be a good opportunity to go see the building!” », while his work will be exhibited there for the whole world to see.
The Chair Fair continues today from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., free access to the covered market and the Rotonde room, with around fifty exhibitors present.
(1) This Sunday, Sièges Bastiat (from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.), HD Sièges (10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 2 to 7 p.m.) and Meubles du Petit Rey (from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.).
