Rectangular Brass Coffee Table with Black Lacquered Glass Top by Maison Jansen, Circa 1940

An impeccably refined rectangular coffee table produced in polished brass, its frame composed of precisely mitred and joined members of classical profile supporting a top inset with black lacquered glass of exceptional depth and brilliance. The brass structure, characterised by its architectural clarity and restrained elegance, presents the measured proportions and precision of finish that distinguish the work of the greatest Parisian ateliers. The deep black of the lacquered glass surface creates a mirror-like luminosity that plays beautifully against the warm gold of the brass frame.

Produced by Maison Jansen — the legendary Parisian decorating house founded in 1880 and, under the direction of Stéphane Boudin, the dominant force in international luxury interior decoration from the 1930s through the 1960s — this table exemplifies the house's celebrated mastery of the brass and lacquered glass aesthetic. The combination of these two materials was a Jansen signature, appearing in commissions for the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Jacqueline Kennedy, and the royal families of Europe and the Middle East. The precision of construction and quality of materials place this table unmistakably within the highest tier of mid-twentieth-century French furniture.

A coffee table of this pedigree transforms any room it enters. The interplay of gleaming brass and black lacquered glass creates a centrepiece of dynamic visual presence, equally commanding in a neoclassical interior hung with period paintings, and in a minimal contemporary setting where it provides the anchor point of a sophisticated decorative scheme. A trophy piece for the discerning collector of Maison Jansen furniture and mid-twentieth-century French decorative arts.