Neoclassical Brass Coffee Table, Glass and Gilt-Bordered Black Leather, Maison Jansen, circa 1940

This superb coffee table is one of the most refined and inventive expressions of Maison Jansen’s neoclassical vocabulary. The upper surface is in transparent clear glass, allowing the eye to pass through to the lower shelf, which is finished in black leather edged with a gilt border — a material combination of remarkable sophistication. The contrast between the cool transparency of the glass above and the warm, tactile surface of the gilt-edged black leather below creates a play of depth and texture that is entirely characteristic of Stéphane Boudin’s approach to luxury interior design: simultaneously functional and theatrical, austere and opulent.

The use of leather in Jansen furniture is a relatively rare feature, most commonly encountered in library and writing furniture but occasionally applied to coffee tables and side tables of the present type. The gilt tooled border — a reference to the decorated bindings of fine books and the leather-covered surfaces of great library tables — elevates the material from a practical covering to a deliberate decorative statement. Combined with the polished brass framework of neoclassical inspiration, the result is a piece of furniture that is as much a work of art as a functional object, characteristic of the highest ambitions of French decorative production during the interwar period.

Presented in very good vintage condition, consistent with its age and provenance. W. 93 cm × D. 48 cm × H. 48 cm.