Furniture design and manufacture was another important art and industry in Nancy.
The city had a large number of skilled artisans, many coming from German-occupied Alsace.
 The furniture designers worked closely with artists in other crafts, such as glassware and textiles.

The most important figure in the furniture of Nancy was Louis Majorelle.
 At the age of twenty, with the death of his father, though he had planned to be a painter and artist, he took over the family business making furniture and ceramics.
He was strongly influenced by the ideas of Émile Gallé  and was a founding member of the Nancy School.
 With the ideas of the school in mind, he oriented the furniture produced by his company away from traditional designs and toward the Art Nouveau.

In the 1890s many of the Majorelle works were designed by his collaborators, Jacques Grüber and Camille Gauthier.
Majorelle often worked in collaboration with the Nancy glass designer Émile Gallé.
In 1898 a prominent Nancy architect, Lucien Weissemburger, joined his firm.
 More and more, however, he made his own designs.
 He designed not only woodwork, but also the fittings and decoration in bronze and other metals, and also made decorative ironwork.
 His ironwork creations included the elegant Art Nouveau stairway railing of the Galeries Lafayette Department Store in Paris (1900).

His work had great success at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900.
 During this period, he presented finely-crafted furniture made of dark walnut, mahogany, snakewood, and hazel wood contrasting with the gilded bronze and hammered copper ornaments inspired by natural forms, such as water lilies.
 His water lily bed (1902–03), now in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, is a classic example of this style.
 Another is the Orchid Desk (1903–05), made of snakewood, ornamented with sculpted and chiseled bronze and copper.
Furniture design and manufacture was another important art and industry in Nancy. The city had a large number of skilled artisans, many coming from German-occupied Alsace.  The furniture designers worked closely with artists in other crafts, such as glassware and textiles.
The most important figure in the furniture of Nancy was Louis Majorelle.  At the age of twenty, with the death of his father, though he had planned to be a painter and artist, he took over the family business making furniture and ceramics. He was strongly influenced by the ideas of Émile Gallé  and was a founding member of the Nancy School.  With the ideas of the school in mind, he oriented the furniture produced by his company away from traditional designs and toward the Art Nouveau.
In the 1890s many of the Majorelle works were designed by his collaborators, Jacques Grüber and Camille Gauthier. Majorelle often worked in collaboration with the Nancy glass designer Émile Gallé. In 1898 a prominent Nancy architect, Lucien Weissemburger, joined his firm.  More and more, however, he made his own designs.  He designed not only woodwork, but also the fittings and decoration in bronze and other metals, and also made decorative ironwork.  His ironwork creations included the elegant Art Nouveau stairway railing of the Galeries Lafayette Department Store in Paris (1900).
His work had great success at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900.  During this period, he presented finely-crafted furniture made of dark walnut, mahogany, snakewood, and hazel wood contrasting with the gilded bronze and hammered copper ornaments inspired by natural forms, such as water lilies.  His water lily bed (1902–03), now in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, is a classic example of this style.  Another is the Orchid Desk (1903–05), made of snakewood, ornamented with sculpted and chiseled bronze and copper.
École de Nancy