Round Brass Coffee Table with Black Lacquered Glass Top by Maison Jansen, French Work, circa 1940

Poised between opulence and restraint, this round coffee table in brass and black lacquered glass is among the most seductive small pieces that Maison Jansen produced during its extraordinary creative decade of the 1940s. The circular black glass top — its surface as deep and reflective as a still pool at night — rests upon a brass structure of refined elegance, whose warm golden gleam plays against the lacquer's absolute darkness in a chromatic opposition of irresistible sophistication. The round form, perennially harmonious and universally flattering to its surroundings, gives the piece a natural centrality: it becomes the quiet focal point of any grouping, demanding nothing but giving much.

The use of lacquered glass in combination with brass was one of the most characteristic choices of Maison Jansen under Stéphane Boudin's direction in the late 1930s and 1940s. Boudin had a painter's eye for the value of darkness in an interior — the way that a black surface could anchor a room, deepen its spatial sense, and make the surrounding materials seem more luminous by contrast. This coffee table exemplifies that philosophy: the brass shines all the brighter for the blackness against which it is set, and the glass achieves a meditative depth that simple transparency could never produce.

A piece of particular rarity and beauty, this table would bring immediate distinction to any salon, living room, or library. Its current condition is excellent, with the brass retaining a lovely aged patina and the lacquered glass surface perfectly intact. An object that whispers of the great Parisian interiors of the 1940s — intimate, luxurious, and absolutely sure of itself.