Seat Joiner and Interior Architect Win French Craft Prize With Ash Chair

Meslée is a chair of ash and ebony, made by hand in a French chair workshop. Seat joiner Louis Monier and interior architect Edgar Jayet developed it together. On 7 October 2026 the pair won the Dialogues category of the Prix Liliane Bettencourt pour l’Intelligence de la Main.

The Dialogues category rewards a collaboration between a craftsperson and a designer. Monier and Jayet share the €50,000 prize, and the Fondation Bettencourt Schueller can add up to €150,000 of support for the project. Laurence des Cars chaired the jury, The Art Newspaper reports. It was the 27th edition of the prize.

^{The Meslée chair of Louis Monier and Edgar Jayet. Photo: Pierre Doucet}

Ash Shaped in the Chair Maker’s Workshop

The chair has an ash frame with ebony details. It measures 61.5 by 68 cm and is 80 cm high. Atelier Monier, which specialises in chair carpentry, makes it in France. The École Camondo, where Jayet studied, describes Meslée as a chair that combines five centuries of craft knowledge with contemporary processes.

In the workshop, the two partners check a large carved ash form used to shape the parts. The finished chair is sold from €4,800, including VAT.

^{A close-up of the Meslée chair of Louis Monier and Edgar Jayet. Photo: Pierre Doucet}

A Second Chair by the Same Pair

Meslée is not their first project. Jayet and Monier also made Belleville, a café chair in the tradition of Thonet. There, chair joinery is used to recreate the free, complex shapes normally made by injection-moulding plastic. Jayet graduated from the École Camondo in Paris in 2022 and has studios in Paris and Venice.

For the organisers, the prize shows that crafts are a strong ground for innovation. Since it began, it has recognised 139 people in many fields. This year’s Talents d’exception award went to Sébastien Desplat.

Support for the Next Steps

The foundation’s support is meant to help the winners develop their project further. Meslée can already be ordered through Edgar Jayet’s studio. Earlier work in solid wood on MaterialDistrict includes a steam-bent hardwood pavilion built with augmented reality.

Source: Fondation Bettencourt Schueller / École Camondo / Edgar Jayet / The Art Newspaper · Images: Fondation Bettencourt Schueller / Pierre Doucet