Two-Tier Brass and Glass Coffee Table by Roche Bobois, French Work, circa 1970

With its two tiers of glass suspended in a polished brass framework of generous proportions, this coffee table by Roche Bobois is a thoroughly accomplished piece of French design from the creative decade of the 1970s. The warm, reflective surfaces of the brass meet the transparency of the glass in a dialogue that is simultaneously opulent and airy — the mass of the metal offset by the visual lightness of the glass, the cool neutrality of the latter animated by the amber warmth of the former. The two-tier configuration, a practical as well as a formal choice, gives the table a sculptural presence that a single-level piece could not achieve, while the generous scale confirms that this was conceived as a centrepiece rather than an incidental accessory.

Roche Bobois, founded in France in 1960 by the Roche and Chouchan families, became one of the most influential names in French contemporary furniture during the 1960s and 1970s. Collaborating with a succession of talented designers and commissioning productions of genuine decorative ambition, the house occupied a unique position in the French market — at once commercially successful and artistically serious, bringing good design to a broader public without compromising on the quality of material or execution that the French decorative tradition demanded. Their brass and glass pieces from the 1970s have since become genuine collector's items, valued for their combination of period character, material quality, and the enduring elegance of their proportions.

In excellent condition, with the brass retaining a fine warm lustre and both glass tiers intact, this coffee table represents a handsome example of French designer furniture from a decade that is today rightly celebrated for its decorative vitality. A piece that brings character, warmth, and a genuine fragment of Parisian style to any interior.