Pair of Round Gilt Brass & Glass Side Tables, circa 1970

These graceful side tables exemplify the refined decorative spirit of French interior design in the early 1970s, when designers delighted in combining the warmth of gilded metals with the cool transparency of glass. Each table features a circular clear glass top resting on an elegantly engineered base of gilded brass, creating a play of reflections that lends the pieces a lightness entirely at odds with their generous proportions.

The bases are composed of curved brass uprights that cross one another in an X-configuration before meeting a circular foot ring — a structural solution as visually pleasing as it is technically sound. The gilding, warm and even, retains a fine patina that speaks to quality manufacture, while the slender profile of each element ensures that the tables remain delicate presences in any room rather than dominating it.

At 61 cm in height and 60.5 cm in diameter, these are substantial tables — equally suited to flanking a sofa as side tables or standing beside a reading chair as lamp tables. The circular glass tops offer a generous surface without visual weight, allowing the decorative bases to remain the principal focus of each piece.

Epitomising the luxurious modernism of post-war French decorative arts, pieces of this quality and coherence have attracted sustained collector interest. This pair, in good vintage condition with a harmonious natural patina, represents an opportunity to acquire a cohesive set — a rarity given how frequently such tables have been separated over the decades.