“I really like things from the 1950s; they are all very functional. I like objects with a backstory, that look like they have lived.”

Her bedroom, for example, features a 19th-century metal bookcase made by students of French architect Gustave Eiffel (of tower fame), who experimented with furniture made from industrial materials. The dining chairs have a similar lineage, and a worn metal console table in the living room started life in a military canteen (“Whenever we move, the removal men ask if it’s for the tip”).

“My furniture, objects and art pieces are all random finds from flea markets, antique dealers and shops that I have come across over the years,” Mandel says. “Many pieces are from my grandmother and my family – we all have similar taste.”

Half-French, half-Dutch, Mandel grew up in Paris, France, where she trained in architecture, landscape architecture and urban planning, later forming her own company specialising in urban landscape design. Moving to Hong Kong in 2008, with her American husband and son (now 10 years old), she switched direction and started to develop her art, taking inspiration from local architecture.

Her recent exhi­bition, “Hong Kong Vanitas”, held in December, featured collages of iconic Hong Kong objects, scenes and places in the same muted shade of jade green (“Such a Hong Kong colour”).

Several pieces from the series are displayed around the apartment, alongside works from Mandel’s earlier exhibitions. One of her paintings hangs in her son’s bedroom.

“That’s his favourite,” she says of the collage, inspired by a family outing to a natural-history museum, with animals peeking from the windows of a typical Sheung Wan building facade. “He bought it from me for $1.”

Art is in Mandel’s blood. Her Dutch grand­mother, Wil Fruytier, was a ground­breaking textile artist. “She used textiles in a pioneering, modern way,” Mandel says. “She had a large workshop and made huge installations. Unfortunately for us, she sold almost everything, but I do have a few of her pieces.”

One of Fruytier’s tapestries, which featured in the 1961 Venice Biennale, is displayed in the guest bedroom. “I got a phone call from a woman in Vermont, who said her husband had bought it from my grandmother, in 1960,” Mandel says. “She was downsizing and had looked up my grandmother online and found a story about me. She asked if I wanted to buy it. Of course, yes!”

Mandel’s collection of 20th-century furniture began with a 1934 hospital bed by French designer Jean Prouvé, which she bought with her first pay cheque and now has pride of place in her lounge.

“Prouvé called himself a constructor, not a designer,” Mandel says. “He believed there was no difference between making a building and a piece of furniture. I love his work; it’s functional, efficient and clever but still with an aesthetic eye.

“I also have a thing about lamps. Most people go shopping in Paris for handbags and fashion, I come back with electrical wire,” she says, fishing out of a cupboard lengths of wire in woven coverings in all sort of colours and patterns, some smooth, some twisted. “When you live in rented accommodation, you can’t just dig out the walls to install a lamp, but with nice wire, you can keep it on show.”

Not for much longer, however. The building’s tenants have all been given notice to quit by August and the block is due for demolition. Mandel sighs. “I am hoping to find a place in another old block. It goes so well with the furniture.”

Entrance Daphné Mandel came across the LED Year of the Rabbit sign in a dilapidated repair shop in Wan Chai, which charged HK$200 for the light fixture and an extra HK$100 to tie it to the roof of her car. The bench is a 1920 tram seat from an antiques shop in Milan. The pendant lamp was bought years ago from the Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen flea market in Paris, France.

Living room Mandel found the black 1960 sofa, by Bodil Kjaer for E Pedersen & Son, at a London flea market. The metal hospital bed, with pull-out medicine drawer in the bedside table, was designed by Jean Prouvé and Jules Leleu in 1934 for the Martel de Janville Sanatorium, in Passy, France, and was purchased years ago from Galerie 54 in Paris.

Living room detail The 1960 military canteen table was picked up years ago at the Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen. The Chinese chest, by Ng, came from Matchit. The Pipistrello table lamp, by Gae Aulenti, is a re-edition of a 1965 model from Le Bon Marché, Paris.

The mixed-media artworks – Urban Puzzle #3 (left; 2017) and Cliff Dwellings #3 (2018) – are both part of Mandel’s “Hong Kong Vanitas” series. The miniature textile and Perspex artwork on the table is a 1970 piece by Fruytier.

Dining area The metal dining table, 19th-century dining chairs – which Mandel believes were designed by students of Gustave Eiffel – Jean-Louis Domecq wall lamps and Sing Sing Sing metal armchairs by Shiro Kuramata were picked up years ago at the Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen.

Hallway Artworks line the long hallway, many by Mandel and her grandmother. The metal shelves were purchased years ago from Aluminium and the pendant lamps were from the Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen.

Study Mandel’s Ikea art table looks over spectacular views of Aberdeen and Southside. The 70s red chair came from the Marché Paul Bert market, in Paris. The George Nelson shelves are a Herman Miller original, purchased in the 70s by Mandel’s parents. The champignon table lamp is also a 70s original. The collage (1995) is by Sahraoui Schems-Eddine.

Guest bedroom The leather and chrome bed was custom made in Hong Kong by Mr Siu (tel: 9013 6162; [email protected]). The low-slung black-slate-top and stainless-steel table, by Poul Kjaerholm, is a 1956 design that Mandel inherited from her grandmother.

Guest bedroom detail The 1960 tapestry is by Fruytier and was displayed at the 1961 Venice Biennale. The Sicre Jeune sewing table is one of a pair that came from an antiques shop in Milan years ago. The pew chair was from a second-hand shop in London. The 1950 table lamp was found in Brocante de Saint-Sulpice, Paris.

Balcony The Mastholmen rattan sofa and chair set (HK$4,386) and Greno cushions (HK$89.90 each) were from Ikea. The Indian statue came from an antiques shop in Normandy, France.

Tried + tested

So Hong Kong Daphné Mandel picked up three iconic Hong Kong wet market lamp­shades in Wan Chai, for HK$25 each, to illuminate her dining table. “I added ceramic holders, which were found in Paris, as well as fabric-covered electric wire,” she says. Ikea’s Sekond cord sets (HK$69.90 each) come in different colours.