Joël and Jan Martel are twin brothers who worked and evolved together throughout their lives in a search for stylised forms, reconciling respect for a certain naturalism with the development of cubism in the early 20s. Taking a scientifi c and collaborative approach, they quickly became part of the Art Deco movement, which brought together the arts of drawing, sculpture and architecture. In 1929, they were one of the founding members of the Union des Artistes Modernes, alongside the architect Robert Mallet-Stevens, who created a number of projects for them and built them their studio at 10 rue Mallet-Stevens in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. In this approach that links materials to architecture, they do not hesitate to multiply the supports, giving their sculptures the strength of stone, the warmth and suppleness of wood or the brilliance of porcelain, with their creations in this material manufactured by the Manufacture de Sèvres as early as 1925 (Chat assis, 1925).