Faux-Bamboo Brass Nesting Tables with Églomisé Mirror Tops by Maison Baguès, circa 1940

This charming set of faux-bamboo brass nesting tables with églomisé mirror tops, by the celebrated Parisian house Maison Baguès, dates from the 1930s–1940s and represents a delightful intersection of two favourite decorative vocabularies of the Art Déco period: the exoticism of faux-bamboo and the glamour of mirror glass.

The frames, executed in brass worked to simulate bamboo—a technique with deep roots in the chinoiserie tradition of the eighteenth century—are paired with tops in églomisé mirror glass, enriching the set with a sense of reflected light and movement. The nesting format, which allows the tables to be stacked compactly or deployed individually as occasion demands, was a staple of the elegant French interior. The warm lustre of the brass bamboo frames against the cool gleam of the mirror tops creates a sophisticated play of materials entirely characteristic of the Baguès aesthetic.

Maison Baguès, one of the most celebrated Parisian houses of decorative metalwork and lighting, was particularly admired for its mastery of exotic and historical ornamental vocabularies. Their faux-bamboo brass pieces, of which this set is a fine example, have long been collected for their technical virtuosity and their ability to animate any interior with wit and elegance.