Neoclassical Brass Coffee Table with Glass Top and Black Lacquered Border, Maison Jansen, French Work, Circa 1940

This refined neoclassical coffee table is fashioned in polished brass, its glass top elegantly framed by a sleek black lacquered border — a detail that adds graphic precision and a note of sophisticated contrast to the overall composition. The interplay of warm golden brass, transparent glass and the deep black of the lacquered line creates an effect of studied elegance characteristic of the most discerning Parisian taste of the 1940s. The classical brass structure, with its harmonious proportions and architectural clarity, speaks of the finest French metalwork tradition.

This table is a work of Maison Jansen, the legendary Parisian interior design house founded in 1880, which became the preeminent reference of luxury decoration throughout the twentieth century. The use of a black lacquered border as a framing device on a glass and brass table was a characteristic Jansen refinement — the juxtaposition of brass with black being one of the most enduring and elegant combinations in the French decorative vocabulary. Under the direction of Stéphane Boudin from 1936, Jansen elevated this kind of controlled contrast to a high art, producing interiors of extraordinary authority and refinement for the world's most distinguished clients.

This coffee table would be a commanding presence in any drawing room or salon, its clean neoclassical lines and striking material contrasts adding a focal point of elegance. Equally at home in a period interior and a contemporary setting, it is a piece of lasting decorative distinction. A fine example of the creative genius of Maison Jansen at the height of its powers.