Draenert Marble Table

Light, sound and 180 million-year-old fossils are just some of the adventurous concepts furniture maker and designer Peter Draenert played with across his career. He creatively expanded the definition of a table beyond form and function, while including many different materials, ranging from marble and glass to granite, wood and travertine. 

In 1968, Draenert and his wife Karin started the Draenert Company in Friedrichshafen, Germany. During the 1970s, the company made tables from oil slate with help from the state and research teams in Holzmaden, Germany. Using other materials like steel and natural stone, Draenert emphasized the artistic qualities of his furniture while adding functional aspects like drawers and hidden compartments. 

Each of his dining tables included easy-to-use extensions, while his coffee tables featured a swivel plate or multiple levels for extra storage and display. In the 2000s, he experimented with light. Some of his tables doubled as alternative light sources, while others, like those made with German artist Walter Giers, used changing lights and patterns.

While best remembered for his tables, a range of furniture manufactured by his company has been collected by museums, including an armchair at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and a cabinet at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of vintage Peter Draenert seating and tables.

The right vintage, new or antique tables can help make any space in your home stand out.

Over the years, the variety of tables available to us, as well as our specific needs for said tables, has broadened. Today, with all manner of these must-have furnishings differing in shape, material and style, any dining room table can shine just as brightly as the guests who gather around it.

Remember, when shopping for a dining table, it must fit your dining area, and you need to account for space around the table too — think outside the box, as an oval dining table may work for tighter spaces. Alternatively, if you’ve got the room, a Regency-style dining table can elevate any formal occasion at mealtime.

Innovative furniture makers and designers have also redefined what a table can be. Whether it’s an unconventional Ping-Pong table, a brass side table to display your treasured collectibles or a Louis Vuitton steamer trunk to add an air of nostalgia to your loft, your table can say a lot about you.

The visionary work of French designer Xavier Lavergne, for example, includes tables that draw on the forms of celestial bodies as often as they do aquatic creatures or fossils. Elsewhere, Italian architect Gae Aulenti, who looked to Roman architecture in crafting her stately Jumbo coffee table, created clever glass-topped mobile coffee tables that move on bicycle tires or sculpted wood wheels for Fontana Arte. 

Coffee and cocktail tables can serve as a room’s centerpiece with attention-grabbing details and colors. Glass varieties will keep your hardwood flooring and dazzling area rugs on display, while a marble or stone coffee table in a modern interior can showcase your prized art books and decorative objects. A unique vintage desk or writing table can bring sophistication and even a bit of spice to your work life. 

No matter your desired form or function, a quality table for your living space is a sound investment. On 1stDibs, browse a collection of vintage, new and antique bedside tables, mid-century end tables and more .