Mason Bagues Coffee Table

Since its establishment in 1860, the Maison Baguès has been an emblem of French sophistication in luxury lighting design. Each piece the firm makes is hand-assembled using traditional techniques in order to emphasize the elegance and excellence of their detailed artisanal work. Still the epitome of savoir-faire, Maison Baguès’ luxurious pieces are prized for their craftsmanship, beauty and harmony.

The master metalsmith Noël Baguès founded the company as specialists in liturgical bronzes, but by 1880 the company had expanded into the production of bronze light fixtures in response to the development of electrical lighting. Carried on by Noël’s son Eugène and grandsons Victor and Robert, Maison Baguès continued to progress, adding intricately detailed iron lighting collections in the 1920s as well as stair banisters, gates and accessory tables. 

Baguès began selling internationally in the interwar period, expanding the company’s operation to New York, Rome and Cairo. Noted for their high-end handcrafted work, such as complex carved sconces and hand-strung crystal chandeliers, Maison Baguès appealed to an elite clientele. While Baguès’ Art Deco crystal lighting fixtures drew the most attention, the company was also known for bespoke metalwork that drew commissions from important interior designers and decorating firms such as Maison Jansen and Raymond Subes. The idiosyncratic genius Armand-Albert Rateau used Maison Baguès accessories to decorate the interiors of Jeanne Lanvin’s town home in 1928. Maison Baguès products have also been featured in luxury hotels like Paris's George V and the Savoy in London.

Today, Maison Baguès continues its history of delicate, detailed work and devotes much of its enterprise to preserving the company’s heritage through restoration. Their efforts are worth it. As you will see on 1stDibs, Maison Baguès remains the last word in classic French lighting and metalwork.

Emerging in the 17th century, chinoiserie appropriated the aesthetics and imagery of popular East Asian design for European-made versions. Reflecting the exoticization of China, Japan and other countries in this era, the word directly translates from French to “Chinese-esque,” which reveals its shortcomings as a style of furniture and decor that often stereotypically and reductively mimics Asian culture rather than showcasing and paying tribute to its artistic traditions.

The enthusiastically decorative chinoiserie style was propelled by influential tastemakers including French King Louis XIV, whose Trianon de Porcelaine in 1670 was inspired by Chinese architecture. Expanded trade between the East and West led to a demand for porcelain, lacquer objects, silk and other goods, which further informed the fanciful furniture being crafted in Europe.

Artisans working in the chinoiserie style used materials and elements like pagoda shapes, bamboo, lacquer surfaces, bird and flower motifs and other interpretations of Asian design on pieces that were frequently set against vibrant wallcoverings. This whimsical approach yielded chinoiserie furniture that boasted dramatic flourishes drawing on the natural world and reflected the dominance of Rococo during the 18th century.

As chinoiserie was shaped by approximations of Asian design by European creators, it had regional variations, such as Chinese Chippendale in England where cabinets, chairs and tea tables had wooden fretwork designs and “japanned” surfaces intended to resemble lacquer work that was created in East Asia. In North America, furniture makers in Boston and New York integrated chinoiserie-painted scenes into Queen Anne furniture.

Antique chinoiserie furniture has continued to be fashionable, from its popularity with decorators of the Hollywood Regency era — James Mont, Tommi Parzinger, William Haines and Samuel Marx favored the style — to contemporary interior designers, although it brings with it a complex history.

Find a collection of chinoiserie bedroom furniture, cabinets, decorative objects and more on 1stDibs.

As a practical focal point in your living area, antique and vintage coffee tables and cocktail tables are an invaluable addition to any interior.

Low tables that were initially used as tea tables or coffee tables have been around since at least the mid- to late-1800s. Early coffee tables surfaced in Victorian-era England, likely influenced by the use of tea tables in Japanese tea gardens. In the United States, furniture makers worked to introduce low, long tables into their offerings as the popularity of coffee and “coffee breaks” took hold during the late 19th century and early 20th century.

It didn’t take long for coffee tables and cocktail tables to become a design staple and for consumers to recognize their role in entertaining no matter what beverages were being served. Originally, these tables were as simple as they are practical — as high as your sofa and made primarily of wood. In recent years, however, metal, glass and plastics have become popular in coffee tables and cocktail tables, and design hasn’t been restricted to the conventional low profile, either.

Visionary craftspeople such as Paul Evans introduced bold, geometric designs that challenge the traditional idea of what a coffee table can be. The elongated rectangles and wide boxy forms of Evans’s desirable Cityscape coffee table, for example, will meet your needs but undoubtedly prove imposing in your living space.

If you’re shopping for an older coffee table to bring into your home — be it an antique Georgian-style coffee table made of mahogany or walnut with decorative inlays or a classic square mid-century modern piece comprised of rosewood designed by the likes of Ettore Sottsass — there are a few things you should keep in mind.

Both the table itself and what you put on it should align with the overall design of the room, not just by what you think looks fashionable in isolation. According to interior designer Tamara Eaton, the material of your vintage coffee table is something you need to consider. “With a glass coffee table, you also have to think about the surface underneath, like the rug or floor,” she says. “With wood and stone tables, you think about what’s on top.”

Find the perfect centerpiece for any room, no matter what your personal furniture style on 1stDibs. Browse a vast selection of antique, new and vintage coffee table and cocktail tables today.