Unique Freeform Slatted Exotic Wood Coffee Table on Gilt Brass Sculptural Supports, circa 1970

Genuinely one-of-a-kind in conception and execution, this French coffee table from around 1970 defies easy classification. At 134 × 58 × 43.5 cm, it commands any interior it inhabits — not through scale alone, but through the radical originality of its design. The piece belongs to a tradition of bespoke artisan furniture that flourished in France around mid-century, in which the conventions of form and function were treated as starting points rather than constraints.

The top is composed of individual strips of exotic hardwood — warm reddish-brown mahogany or a related tropical timber, interspersed with a central spine of lighter contrasting wood — arranged so that they splay outward from the centre towards both ends. Rather than meeting in a flush, uniform surface, the strips fan and separate at the extremities, creating a fringe-like silhouette that dissolves the table’s perimeter into a series of individual elements. The effect, viewed from above, evokes a feather, a fan, or a mid-century exploration of organic form that anticipates much of what followed in French and Italian design.

Beneath the top, two sculptural gilt brass supports carry the composition with baroque confidence. Each rises from a circular collar — where it engages the underside of the slatted top — into a sweeping arrangement of cast brass legs that spread outward and downward to the floor. The gilt finish warms the brass to a deep golden tone, creating a vivid dialogue with the rich grain of the wood above.

Few pieces associate artistic ambition with practical functionality as successfully as this table. It represents an exceptional commission-level work of French decorative arts from the 1970s, equally compelling in a contemporary gallery context and a private collector’s interior.