Janette Laverrière was born in 1909, the daughter of a Swiss architect. In the early 1930s she apprenticed with Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann, legendary designer of luxurious modernist furniture. Ruhlmann pieces now sell for multiple millions.
Laverrière began a late-in-life relationship with Silberkuppe Berlin to produce small editions of her own furniture designs. The Cognac Chair was her final project. The drawings were finished not long before her death at age 101 in 2011. The chair has now been manufactured – it is made of oak wood, pale blue leather, orange leather, and orange suede.