Modernist Chrome X-Base Coffee Table with Octagonal Glass Top, France circa 1970

This sleek modernist coffee table is built around one of the most distinctive forms of 1970s French design: the crossed tubular chrome base. Two sweeping arcs of polished chrome-plated steel tubing intersect at the centre, their ends curving gracefully upward to support the four corners of the glass top — a form that is at once simple and architecturally expressive, achieving maximum elegance with minimum material.

The glass top is square in plan, its corners cut at a diagonal to produce a refined octagonal silhouette that softens the geometry of the table and catches the light along its faceted edges. The glass rests directly on the chrome frame with great clarity, its transparency allowing the sculptural base to remain fully visible from all angles and ensuring the table reads as a single coherent object from any viewpoint.

At just 28.5 centimetres in height and a generous 73 by 73 centimetres in plan, the table is perfectly proportioned for a living room setting, providing an ample surface area while maintaining the low, unobtrusive profile favoured in the open interiors of the period. The X-base form invites circulation around the piece, offering clear sightlines from every angle.

In excellent vintage condition, the chrome retaining a strong and lustrous finish, the glass clean and undamaged. A highly sculptural and desirable piece of French modernism, equally at home in a period interior or a contemporary setting.