Roly Poly Low Table

Faye Toogood’s name is practically synonymous with her Roly Poly chair. With its chubby legs and bowl-like seat, the now-iconic piece epitomized the trend toward chunky forms that defined avant-garde furniture design in the 2010s. But the visionary British artist’s contributions go far beyond the chair and its similarly robust companion pieces, in disciplines ranging from textiles and ceramics to fashion and home interiors.

“I design holistically, with an overall vision across fashion, furniture and interiors,” she tells 1stDibs. “Furniture is something I return to over and over again and is a very strong part of this vision. I am interested in humans and the way they live — the spaces they inhabit, the clothes they wear, the objects they surround themselves with.”

After a childhood spent running free in the English countryside with nature as her playground, Toogood studied art history at Bristol University rather than attend art school. Her design approach is underpinned by contrast and understandably informed by art history, particularly the mid-20th-century modernism of such British artists as Barbara Hepworth and Alfred Wallis. “For me, it is about playing around with references and our associations, be that with materials or the precious and the raw, the masculine and the feminine,” she explains. “I’m able to use those contrasts to create friction.”

Toogood has exhibited at Phillips and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Triennale in Milan and D Museum in Seoul. In addition, her works are in the permanent collections of institutions worldwide, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Dallas Museum of Art; Denver Art Museum; High Museum of Art, in Atlanta; Corning Museum of Glass, in New York; the National Gallery of Victoria, in Melbourne; and the Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg.

Shop furniture designs from Faye Toogood today 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.